Reconnected
by PrismRain13
Summary: Sora and the gang depart on their final journey to save those who are hurting. But things start looking bad as Xehanort makes his return. Will our heroes be able to put an end to this madman once and for all with the help of friends both old and new? spoilers! My version of KH3. Sora X Kairi, Riku X OC, Roxas X Naminé, Terra X Aqua, Ven X Xion etc...
1. Prologue: Awakening

**Prismrain13: Hey! While I was anxiously waiting for Kingdom Hearts III to come out, I've decided to write my own version of what I think it should be like :) **

**Sora: Seriously though, it needs to come out!**

**Prismrain13: SO WHY AREN'T YOU WORKING ON IT!**

**Sora: I've saved the world twice already! Don't I deserve a vacation?**

**Prismrain13: Just do the desclaimer... **_**please? **_***insert Puss in Boots eyes***

**Sora: You know I can't resist that face! Grr... Prism does not claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or anything else she decides to use; they belong to Disney and Square Enix.**

**Prismrain13: Thank u Sora! *huggles Sora* on with the story...**

_**Prologue: Awakening**_

"_My friends are my power! And I'm theirs!"_

"_Aqua, Ven, one day I'll set things right."_

"_My name is Master Aqua! Now return my friend's heart or pay the price!"_

"_This world has been connected; tied to the darkness, soon to be completely eclipsed."_

"_All for one and one for all!"_

"_That's not true! I know now, without a doubt, Kingdom Hearts is light!"_

"_In this place, to find is to loose and to loose is to find, that is the way, in Castle Oblivion."_

"_If his memories become her memories... she will never survive it.__"_

"_I belong with Sora. And now, I am going back... to be with him.__"_

"_Sora... you're lucky, looks like my summer vacation is... over."_

"_Think I'll pass, my heart just wouldn't be in it you know; haven't got one."_

"_There is one advantage to being me, something you could never imitate; having you for a friend."_

"_In fact, I'd like to believe maybe he can set things right. A boy like him who touches so many hearts. He could open the right door and save all those lives I've managed to ruin."_

He was falling, slowly through darkness. It was a sweet, relaxing feeling he hadn't felt in over two years. He didn't want it to end. His hair was light brown and styled into multiple spikes, while his body was garbed in a detailed black and navy outfit with multiple buckles and straps.

Sora slowly opened his eyes as the voices he had heard in his head silenced. Some he had heard before, while others were foreign to him. The feeling of floating left him as he landed on an equally black ground. Almost positive about what was going to happen next, Sora stepped forward. And as he did, a flock of snow white doves flew out from under his feet, revealing circular platform at least 30 feet in diameter and appeared to be made out of stained glass. Sora watched the doves fly out into the distance until a voice brought his attention back to the present.

"_Soon, their suffering will finally end. Soon, you will depart on your final journey."_

Sora glanced down at the picture on the station. It was golden orange in color with a blond-haired boy around his age with his eyes closed. He was dressed in black and white checkered clothing and holding a silver and yellow key-shaped weapon. Surrounding the boy's head and feet were small pictures of other people. But, it was the way his hair was styled that gave away his identity to Sora, it was his nobody; Roxas. The people in the smaller pictures surrounding Roxas's head were Axel, Naminé, Sora himself and a girl with short black hair Sora didn't recognize. While the pictures surrounding his feet were Hayner, Pence and Olette. The background was Twilight Town.

Suddenly a horde of black shadow heartless appeared out of the ground and lunged at Sora. Sora raised his hand and in a flash of white light, the Kingdom Key Keyblade appeared in his hand as it always had. Sora just barely ducked out of the way of a shadow jumping towards him, and sliced through two who had almost clawed him. Then slashed at one in mid-air. He ran a fair distance from the remaining heartless, and then threw Kingdom Key at them. Once the heartless were reduced to nothing but wisps of fading darkness, the Keyblade returned to Sora's hand. Then, a staircase of multicoloured stained glass materialized in front of Sora. Knowing no other way to go, Sora took his time walking up them.

The staircase led him to yet another station. This one was golden yellow in color and revolving around the same unrecognizable black-haired girl from Roxas's station. She was dressed in the familiar black coat from the former Organization XIII and she was holding the Kingdom Key Keyblade. The pictures surrounding her head were Axel, Naminé, himself, and to Sora's surprise, there seemed to be two pictures of Roxas. Like Roxas's station, the background was Twilight Town.

As soon as Sora stepped onto the new station, the staircase that had led him there vanished and he was instantly surrounded by a dozen dusks. Holding out his hand, Kingdom Key appeared. The dusks swarmed towards him, but Sora dodged out of the way and dashed out of sight of the dusks, temporarily confusing them. Sora took advantage of this by sending multiple blows to the dusks; eliminating many of them. Sora repeated this strategy with the remaining dusks until all the dusks vanished. As soon as Sora had destroyed the last nobody, there was a flash of white light in front of him and a glowing, majestic rose pink door appeared in front of him.

"_Hold on, beyond that door lies a completely different world. You will learn things that may change you forever. But don't be afraid; you have friends who care for you."_

Sora doubted the voice could see him, but nodded his head in understanding. He grasped Kingdom Key in both hands and pointed it at the door. A beam of white light appeared from the tip of the Keyblade and unlocked the door, revealing an intense amount of light. Sora shielded his eyes as he walked through. When Sora opened his eyes again he was standing on another station. This one was emerald green in color and revolving around a boy who looked identical to Roxas. The only differences Sora took notice of were a metallic green piece of armour attacked to his shoulder, matching metal shoes, a silver symbol on his chest and he was holding an oddly shaped grey and gold Keyblade being held in reverse. The pictures surrounding his head were a young woman with short blue hair, a young man with dark brown hair, Sora and King Mickey. The background appeared to be some kind of wasteland.

"Is that Roxas?" Sora whispered without intending to.

"No," a familiar feminine voice spoke, "He's someone you share a special connection with, someone who's hurting." Sora looked ahead to find that he was not alone. Standing in front of him with her back to him was a girl his age dressed in a short white dress, blue sandals with little yellow flowers on them, while her pale blonde hair was casually draped over one shoulder.

"Naminé?" Sora asked. The nobody of one of his best friends turned to face him. She appeared to have a sad look in her blue eyes. "What do you mean? I've never met anyone who looks like that, well other than Roxas."

"You've only met him briefly. I don't expect you to remember, you were only four at the time," Naminé said quietly.

"Does this have anything to do with the King's letter?" Sora asked remembering the letter he, Riku and Kairi had received a fair few months ago.

"Yes," Naminé nodded, "There are so many people who are hurting now. It's time for you to awaken the memories inside of you and end their hurt."

"Are you?"

"We're hurting, but there are people who are hurting more than us, longer than us. You need to make them your first priority." A new voice said from behind Sora. Sora turned around to find a boy standing behind him. He recognized him from the first station.

"Roxas?" Sora asked. His nobody nodded. Sora turned for a final time to find a figure in a long, black Organization XIII coat, the hood covering their face. The hooded figure was standing next to a figure in metallic green armour with blue plates, their helmet covering their face. "You've all suffered for a long time, haven't you?" the cloaked figure nodded.

"I've wanted to meet you for a long time, Sora." The figure spoke in a feminine voice. Roxas raised an eyebrow at her.

"Do I know you? Your voice sounds familiar." He asked. The figure turned its head towards Naminé.

"It's your choice if you want to tell them. I understand if you're not ready," Naminé told her.

"Naminé?" Roxas asked, "Do you know something we don't?"

"It's not my place to say," Naminé replied. Sora turned to the figure in armour.

"Who are you?" he asked. The armoured figure stepped forward and spoke,

"_I've been connected to your heart for years. But, my friends, they've suffered a long time."_

"You... when I came here two years ago, you're the voice that guided me!" Sora realized. The armoured figure nodded.

"_I've tried to help you in what little way I could. I know I haven't been able to do much, when you've done so much for me. I hate asking you this, Sora, but the hurt has gone on long enough. You need to end it once and for all."_

Sora nodded his understanding and closed his eyes. Soon, he would leave on his final quest to end the hurt.

**Prismrain13: So, yeah. That's the first chappie :) And, I've also decided to give this story a theme song.**

**Sora: It's **_**Final Distance**_** by Utada Hikaru, which Prism here does not own.**

**Prismrain13: Thanks Sora, also, for anyone who's interested, I've come up with a Kingdom Hearts challenge. Just go to my profile for the rules and PM me if you've accepted. If you have suggestions for this or any of my stories I'd LOVE to hear them!**

**Sora: Wow, someone's enthusiastic; don't forget to review!**


	2. Departure

**PrismRain13: Wow. This was a fast update! I'm pretty proud of myself!**

**Tidus: Don't get used to it, people. Knowing Prism, as soon as she gets stuck it will be months before she updates again.**

**PrismRain13: gee... thanks for the support, Tidus.**

**Tidus: Anytime. PrismRain13 does not claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts and Final fantasy; those belong to Square Enix and/or Disney. Nor does she own **_**Final Distance**_** which is the chosen theme song for this story; that belongs to Utada Hikaru. She does however own the plot and the six OC's (original characters) present in this chapter...**

_**Chapter 1: Departure**_

Sora slowly opened his eyes and found himself in the familiar warm, cluttered space of his bedroom on Destiny Islands. The sixteen-year-old was lying in his warm bed with the navy covers pushed down to the bottom of the bed. Sora looked down at himself and saw that he was no longer wearing his magical clothing; instead he was dressed in a plain light blue t-shirt, and black boxers. He glanced over his bed and saw that he had dropped an old, stuffed, cartoon-like yellow bird. Sora picked up the stuffed chocobo and held it close to his chest. He had the plushie ever since he was a baby; he just never found it in him to get rid of it. The small digital clock on his nightstand read _6:23 AM._

_Was that a dream?_ Sora thought, turning his thoughts back to his encounter with Roxas, Naminé and the two mystery people. _Why wouldn't Naminé tell me or Roxas what she knows?_ There was a small knock on the door and a tall slender woman walked into the room. Her long, light brown hair was in a tangled ponytail as if she had just gotten out of bed, while a fuzzy pale blue housecoat was wrapped around her body and a gold wedding ring was around her finger.

"Hey, sweetie, how are you?" she smiled as she walked towards Sora.

"I'm okay, mom," Sora said. His mother sat down on his bed with him and wrapped her arms around her son.

"Nervous about leaving again?" she asked. Sora had been back home on the islands for a year now. A fair few months ago he, Riku and Kairi had received a letter from King Mickey telling them about people connected to Sora's heart, and how much they were hurting. The King had decided to delay the date of departure in order to give the trio some down time with their families and school. Donald, Goofy and the King were coming to pick up Sora and Riku later that day to take them to Master Yen Sid for their Mark of Mastery exam. Kairi had wanted to come, but her foster father (who was the Mayor of Destiny Islands) had become very overprotective since he had found out about Axel kidnapping her a year ago.

"Mom, I've saved the universe twice, I think I can handle being away from home for awhile." Sora explained.

"I know, I'm just worried," His mother started tearing up as she tightened her embrace around her son, "My little boy's growing up so fast!"

"Mom," Sora whined, "I'm sixteen, I'm not a little kid anymore," His mom whipped away her tears.

"No matter how old you get, you'll always be my baby," she turned her attention to the chocobo plushie Sora still had cradled in his arms, "I still remember when your father and I bought that for you; I was expecting you to come in a month's time and wanted to buy you your first stuffed animal to give to you when you were born, like my parents did for me. So, I dragged your father out to my favourite toy store, and started browsing through the stuffed animals. They had a fairly wide variety, and I didn't want to get you a teddy bear, because I thought that would be too cliché. I spent a few hours in the store deciding what plush to get you. Finally, I came to your father holding two moogle plushies; one pink, the other blue. We still didn't know if you were a boy or a girl, so I spent another fifteen minutes trying to decide. By that time, your dad had started to get tired and grumpy, so he walked back towards the mountain of stuffed animals, picked up that chocobo, shoved it in my face and said, 'there, if it's a boy he'll be happy, if it's a girl she'll be happy, you'll be happy, I'll be happy, let's go'. Even after he bought it he still had to drag me out of the store," His mother laughed.

"I always wondered why dad never let me have more than fifteen minutes in the toy store," Sora laughed.

"Well, now you know," his mom ruffled his hair, the digital clock now read _6:41 AM_, "you're leaving at noon today, right?"

"Yeah,"

"All packed?" Sora nodded, his mom gently kissed the top of his forehead and stood up from the bed, "How about you get a little more sleep and I'll start making you breakfast?" Sora smiled and nodded, "What would you like?"

"Blueberry pancakes and cinnamon toast cut into paopu fruit!" Sora said energetically, remembering the breakfast his mom always made him when he was younger. His mom smiled.

"You got it," she said as she left the room. Sora pulled the warm covers back over his head, still holding the chocobo plushie.

~*KHIII*~

_I wanted to tell you right away, about memories from the past that sleep within you,__and about the pieces that will tie you to your future._

_Sora, Riku, Kairi,__the truth behind the Keyblade,__has found its way through so many people,__and now I know that it rests in your hearts._

_Sora,__you are who you are because of those people, but they're hurting,__and you're the only one who can end their sadness. They need you._

_It's possible that all your journeys so far,__have been preparing you for this great new task that's waiting for you._

_I should have known there were no coincidences, only links in a much larger chain of events.__And now the door to your next journey is ready to be opened._

_-__Mickey_

Seventeen-year-old Riku read through Mickey's letter few more times before placing it back on his desk. He sat back down on his bed, let out a deep sigh and ran his fingers through his now chin-length silver hair. Around the time the letter arrived, Riku had decides to cut it because he thought that it would get in his way. True, everyone on the islands were shocked to see it cut so short, but they were also shocked to learn that he had let it grow so long during his travels.

They were going to meet the King, Donald and Goofy at the beach, but the other residents of the island were going to the beach to see them off. Riku's older brother and sister had wanted to see him off, but since they were both in college and had classes that day, they had come the night before and given him their best.

In reality, he was nervous about the Mark of Mastery exam. However, no one could tell by looking at him because he did such a good job hiding it. What if there was still some uncontrollable darkness inside him? What if he failed? Just then, there was a knock on his door and Riku quickly snapped out of his trance.

"Hey, it's eleven thirty, you ready to go?" a man's voice asked from behind the closed doors.

"Yeah Dad, I'm coming!" Riku said as he swung his black backpack over his shoulder. Looking back at the space of his bedroom, Riku let out a deep sigh, grabbed the letter and left through the door. Feeling a little nervous, but ready to fight by Sora's side.

~*KHIII*~

Sora waited anxiously beside his parents, fully dressed in the magical clothes the three good faeries had given him and holding a bright blue plaid backpack with several key chains on the zippers (a chocobo, moogle, cactuar, Cait Sith and a tonberry(1)). Sky, his mom was now fully dressed in a pale pink tank top, a white button-up shirt that was undone, knee-length denim shorts and white flip flops. Her long, light brown hair was now tied back in a loose ponytail. Divum; his dad was wearing a red muscle shirt, brown cargo shorts and brown sandals. His dark brown hair was styled similarly to his son's, only shorter, and had black-rimmed glasses over his blue eyes.

"Hey! Sora!" a voice called from a distance, Sora turned to find Selphie, Tidus and Wakka waving at him. Sora waved back and walked towards them. The trio had changed quite a bit over a course of two years. Selphie's legs had become slimmer and longer, adding to her height, her hair had grown longer and lighter, but she still styled it the same. She was still perky and romantic. She had traded in her sandals for light brown ugs, and her beaded bracelet for a brown wristband and three blue rubber bracelets. Her yellow dress now had a small zipper at the top and a loose blue belt around her hips, and she had added a silver necklace to her outfit.

Tidus had grown taller; more tanned and had gained more muscles, thanks to the blitzball team he and Wakka played on. Instead of sandals, he now wore yellow high tops. Around his neck, he now wore a silver necklace with a jagged "j" symbol on it. And on his left arm, he wore some kind of armguard armour like all the blitzball players wore, while on his left wrist he wore a black wristband.

Wakka was still much bigger than the two, because h had grown as well. He was now more tanned and had more muscles. His sandals were now black, and, like Tidus, now wore the blitzball armguard on his left arm. He also had on a necklace with a wooden fish symbol and a tan muscle shirt.

"You're leavin' soon, ya?" Wakka asked.

"Yeah," Sora replied.

"Don't worry about it!" Tidus said enthusiastically, "we just came by to wish you good luck!" Selphie nodded in agreement.

"We're really gonna miss you guys," Selphie said.

"Oh, come on. You guys lasted two years without me and Riku!" Sora noted. But before any of them could reply, Sora saw Riku walk towards them with his parents, following closely behind them was the Mayor of Destiny Islands and his wife. The mayor was an overweight man with balding black hair, a bushy moustache and small round glasses. He was proudly walking tall and wearing a brown suit and navy tie. His wife was a tall slender woman with blonde hair tied into a tight bun. Like her husband, she too was proudly walking closely to him and wearing a grey skirt, jacket and a white blouse. Sora had expected Kairi to be with her foster parents to see him and Riku off, but she wasn't. The last time he heard from her, she had been furious with them for not letting her go with Sora and Riku. The mayor never did exactly approve of his daughter's friendship with the two boys who had been troublemakers since preschool. Riku stood beside Sora as the mayor stood in front of them. It looked as if all of Destiny islands had shown up to see the two young heroes off.

All except Kairi, Sora thought sadly as he touched Kairi's good luck charm he still had in his pocket. She had given it back to him a month before, when he finally made up his mind to go. The loud voice of the Mayor brought him back to the present.

"Well, boys," He spoke, "We all know what you've been through. And we all know that today you will depart again for an unknown length of time to settle this issue with the other worlds. On behalf of myself and all the citizens of these islands; I wish you both good luck," he then shook both boy's hands as a loud eruption of applause and cheers spread throughout the beach. Suddenly, a small orange object started to appear in the distance, as it came closer, Sora could see that it was a gummi ship. When it was finally close enough, the ship landed gracefully on the beach. The door to the ship opened and two figures; the first was a short white duck dressed in blue zipper-decorated clothes and a matching hat, the second was very tall dog-like crature dressed in yellow pants, a green shirt and a black vest with a matching hat and had a goofy grin on his face. As soon as the two saw Sora, they burst into grins and ran out towards him

"SORA!" they both shouted as they embraced their friend.

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora exclaimed as he returned the hug, happy to see the duo again. Sora then saw a short black mouse dressed in ared and gold outfit similar to Sora's step out of the ship and hug Riku.

"Great to see you again, Mickey," Riku told the mouse.

"Same here, Riku," King Mickey beamed then he turned to the mayor, "The Mayor of Destiny Islands I presume?"

"Yes. And I suppose you are King Mickey?" The Mayor asked in a somewhat snooty tone, whlie Mickey just kept his smile on his face.

"Yes sir. Don't worry, we'll get Sora and Riku back home before ya know it!" The Mayor gave hardly any response as Mickey turned back towards the boys. "Are ya ready?" the King asked. Both boys nodded, picked up their backpacks and started walking towards the ship.

"Sora! Wait!" Sora turned around and saw his mom run towards him with his chocobo plushie in her arms. She handed it to him, "I don't know how you slept without him all this time," She snuck in a quick hug before he walked back to the gummi ship. Riku smirked at his best friend.

"I can't believe you still sleep with that thing," Riku smirked.

"Shut up!" Sora defended.

**PrismRain13: Wow, that was long.**

**Tidus: Yes, yes it was.**

**PrismRain13: By the way, why aren't you in KH more? You're just as awesome as Cloud and Leon!**

**Tidus: I have absolutely no idea.**

**(1): All summons/creatures who appear in Final Fantasy**


	3. Stowaway

**PrismRain13: Hi people! It's your friendly neighbourhood nerd, PrismRain13 :)**

**Kairi: Why'd you leave me behind?**

**PrismRain13: Don't blame me, blame your overprotective father.**

**Kairi: He's your OC and you made him that way.**

**PrismRain13: ohh... right... **_**disclaimer?**_

**Kairi: We'll talk later. PrismRain13 doesn't claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy; they belong to Square Enix and/or Disney. Nor does she own the selected theme song, **_**Final Distance**_**, which belongs to Utada Hikaru. She does however own the plot and her OC's.**

_**Chapter 2: Stowaway**_

Sora sat quietly by one of the many large windows in the gummi ship. His chocobo plushie had been carefully stowed away in his backpack because Riku had kept teasing him about it. Despite looking like a blocky child's toy on the outside, the gummi ship was actually quite comfortable on the inside. The front of the ship consisted of three large blue spinning chairs, occupied by King Mickey, Donald and Goofy. In front of them was a dashboard with several colourful controls (Donald was driving). The walls and ceiling were made from a silver metal. The floor was coated in cream coloured carpet, with a blue rug on top. Sora himself was sitting on a comfortable orange couch with blue pillows that was built into the wall. Riku was lying on an identical couch across from Sora, listening to his black ipod. On the ceiling, there was a round porthole-like door; Cid had explained it was used as an entry way if two gummi ships were attached. Sora had seen an identical one on the floor of the engine room. Sora let out a deep sigh as he continued to gaze outside. Goofy had noticed that his friend wasn't his usual cheerful self; in fact he looked really sad. Goofy stood up from his seat at the controls (he was only monitoring how far away they were from Yen Sid's Tower anyway) and sat beside the spiky-haired boy.

"Sora," the dog asked, "are ya feelin' okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, Goofy," Sora said quietly as he turned to face his friend.

"Are ya nervous about the exam?" King Mickey asked, turning his chair around to face the two.

"No,"

"Feelin' homesick already?" Goofy asked.

"No,"

"Upset your mom embarrassed you?" Donald quacked, a small smirk appearing on his bill.

"NO!" Sora exclaimed as he jumped to his feet.

"It's about Kairi, isn't it?" Riku asked. He had taken out his earphones to listen to the conversation. Sora sighed.

"I just don't get why she didn't come to say goodbye,"

"Hey," Riku stood up from his seat and put a reassuring hand on his friend's shoulder, "Kairi cares about you a lot, okay, she wouldn't come if there wasn't a good reason."

"Maybe her dad thought she's run on to the ship as soon as it showed up and forbidded her from going?" Donald suggested.

"Who's to say I didn't?" a female voice laughed, just as the door in the ceiling opened and a girl around sixteen years old jumped into the cockpit. She was dressed in a short pink dress decorated with multiple zippers and a black belt around her hips that supported a black pouch. Underneath her dress, she was wearing a white halter top with a black hood. On her feet were violet high tops, and she had a silver raindrop-shaped necklace on. Swung over her shoulder was a violet backpack with bright pink flowers printed on it. Her auburn hair reached a little past her shoulders and her blue eyes sparkled with mischief and kindness.

"Kairi?" the group of five exclaimed with shocked faces. She nodded and embraced Sora and Riku in a tight hug.

"You didn't think I'd miss out on another adventure _or_ the chance to become a Keyblade Master did you?" Kairi smirked.

"But... how?" King Mickey asked, speechless.

"Minnie and Daisy helped me out," Kairi finally let go of the two boys and now was just standing in the middle of the room with a big smile on her face. Since the time the island trio came home, they kept contact with the residents of Disney Castle. Sora often wrote to Donald and Goofy, Riku to Mickey and Kairi quickly became close pen pals with Queen Minnie and Daisy Duck.

"How'd they help ya out?" Goofy asked.

"Well, I wrote to them about a month ago telling them how upset I was about dad not letting me go with you guys, they wrote back telling me that they came up with a plan to stowaway," the group of five still had yet to wipe the surprised looks off their faces. Kairi giggled and continued, "I snuck out around six am last night and walked down to the beach, where they were going to send a small gummi ship to me, a few minutes later it came. There was no one else in it because Daisy was controlling it from Disney Castle. After I got in, I flew it back into space and waited for you guy's ship to come. And when it did, I attached my gummi ship onto yours. And well, now here I am."

"Did you even think about how the mayor would react when he realized you were gone?" Riku asked.

"I left him a note explaining how important it was, since I was a Princess of Heart and a Keyblade wielder I'd have to be there to help and if he didn't like it then that's too bad," Kairi beamed

"Welp, if you're sure you're up to this, Kairi, then welcome aboard," Mickey smiled and held out his hand, Kairi enthusiastically shook it.

"Thanks a lot, your majesty,"

"That was amazing; I didn't know you knew how to fly a gummi ship!" Sora exclaimed.

"Well, Minnie and Daisy left some instructions for me on the seat," Kairi replied. Riku smiled and placed his arms around his two childhood friends.

"Look at us; going to save the universe together," he said, "this'll be one adventure I'll never forget!" Suddenly, there was a loud beeping noise from the dashboard as one of the navigation screen flashed.

"We're here!" Donald quacked.

**PrismRain13: See, I didn't leave you behind!**

**Kairi: Sorry for doubting you.**

**PrismRain13: Hakuna Matatta! *Prism and Kairi hug* I know this chapter is like, half as long as my previous one, but I just really wanted to get this posted!**

**Kairi: Wow, three updates in three days, you're on a roll! Don't forget to review!**

**PrismRain13: Thanks, Kairi. You wanna go shopping?**

**Kairi: Sure, why not?**


	4. New Friends, New Enemies

**PrismRain13: Wow, I'm impressed with myself; I usually don't update this fast.**

**Donald: You must really be enjoying writing this.**

**PrismRain13: Why yes, yes I am. Now, disclaimer?**

**Donald: Kingdom Hearts belongs to Square Enix and Disney. **_**Final Distance**_**; the chosen theme song is owned by Utatda Hikaru. The only thing Prism owns is the plot and her OC's.**

_**Chapter 3: New Friends, New Enemies**_

Yen Sid's tower was tall, majestic and crooked and coloured golden brown. The roofs were blue and cone-shaped decorated with several moons and stars. The tower itself rested on a floating island with a few pine trees, while the island was surrounded by sparkling blue clouds. This was where Master Yen Sid was waiting for them. This would be where the Mark of Mastery exam would take place. The gummi ship landed in front of the pathway to the tower. The door to the ship opened and Sora, Riku and Kairi stepped out. Riku and Kairi looked at the tower in awe, this being their first time there. They were shortly followed by King Mickey, Donald and Goofy.

"Wow!" Kairi exclaimed as she turned to Mickey, "So, Yen Sid actually lives here, your majesty?"

"Yep, I lived here too while I was studying to be his apprentice twelve years ago. This is also where I took my Mark of Mastery test," Mickey replied.

"Really?" Riku asked, "How'd it go?" but, before Mickey could reply, Donald interrupted.

"Let's just say; It's not something any of us want to remember," Donald quacked, rubbing his tail as if remembering a painful accident. Goofy wasn't paying attention to the conversation; he was looking anxiously around the space with a worried look in his eyes. Sora stepped beside him.

"Goofy? What's wrong?" he asked.

"We were supposed to meet my boy, Maxie here, but I don't see him," Goofy replied in a worried tone. Goofy had told Sora about his son, Max in many of his letters. From what Sora heard, he was an energetic teenage boy who loved to skateboard, hang out with his friends in town and was training to become a knight. He hadn't gotten a shield yet, so he was using his skateboard as a weapon.

"Max isn't here yet?" Mickey asked, the worry now slipping into his squeaky voice, "we told him to meet us here hours ago."

"Do you think something happened to him?" Kairi asked, she too now worried.

"Maybe he went in the tower?" Riku suggested.

"No, we told him specifically, to meet us outside," Mickey replied.

"Aww phoey!" Donald groaned, "You're all worryin' too much! I bet he was too busy talkin' with his girlfriend and he just forgot!"

"Maybe we should call the castle and see if he's there," Sora suggested, placing a comforting hand on Goofy's shoulder.

"We should check with Master Yen Sid first," Mickey said as he stepped forward, "If Max isn't in the tower, then he can find him quickly. Alright, Goofy?" Goofy nodded, comforted by Mickey's words. The group of six then started walking towards the tower again.

_**Mysterious Tower**_

The goup then kept until they reached the front. They stopped when they saw a large figure in colourful clothing leaning closely by the front door, trying to listen closely to something.

"Whachha doin'?" Donald asked, not even thinking that whoever this was could want to hurt them.

"Shh! I'm tryin' to listen!" The figure snapped in a gruff voice as he waved a large hand behind him. The group of six looked at each other curiously.

"To what?" Goofy asked.

"Well, see me an' my associate came to this here world lookin' fer some treasure ta kill the time. But we found somethin' better. We found this skinny little runt we knew from our home world. Put up a fight, but with two of us, we took 'im down. Soon we found out that that pipsqueak of a King, his two boneheads and three Keyblade Wielders was comin' to this here tower to take some kind of test to become Masters. So, here I am listenin' carefully for the test ta start. Cuz soon as them three Keybeares 'come Masters, our boss, Maleficent, is gonna have big plans fer them!"

"Maleficent?" Riku and Mickey exclaimed in unison. They, along with the rest of the group had completely forgotten about her as she didn't seem like too much of a threat anymore.

"Yep. Don't know why that test hasn't started yet. Been standin' here fer an hour an' heard nothin'."

"Maybe because we just got here!" Sora yelled, clearly seeing this figure as an enemy.

"Wha-" the figure turned around completely to reveal a fat anthropomorphized cat in dark blue overalls, a red shirt, dark blue armour plates on his shoulders and large fingerless gloves and shoes. Everyone immediately recognized him.

"Pete?" the group asked in unison.

"Well, ain't this a surprise," Pete smirked, "Here I was waitin' fer ye ta start yer test so I could interrupt it and take you three," He pointed to Sora, Riku and Kairi, "Te Maleficent,"

"Yeah, good luck with that," Sora smirked, "You're just as big of an idiot as last time, Pete. We'll kick your butt in no time." But, instead of getting pouty like a big baby like he usually did, his smirk grew.

"Ya think so, hey?" Pete laughed, "well this time, I ain't alone, runt. Not only have I got me some heartless, but Maleficent partnered me up with an old buddy of mine," He turned to Goofy, "and we think we found somethin' that may belong to ya, Goof. Hey! Mortimer! Come show our little buddies here what we found!"

"Cool your jets, Pete, buddy, I'm right here." A sleek voice spoke from behind the tower as a figure stepped out. He was a tall, skinny rat with a long, thin nose and two bucked teeth, he had a look of determination in his eyes. He was dressed in an outfit that looked almost identical to Pete's except the colors were switched around. On his mouth there was an evil smirk, and his skinny arms were crossed over his chest. Mickey recognized him right away.

"Mortimer! You're working for Maleficent?" Mickey exclaimed.

"Right you are, 'your majesty'" Mortimer said as he did a mock bow, "See, when the offer came to me, I realized it was the perfect way to get you caught in a mouse trap, and for me to take that pretty queen of yours,"

"Mortimer!" Pete yelled, obviously not interested in what his partner was talking about, "show the pipsqueaks what we found when we got here!"

"Fine, fine, you get to have your fun, but won't leave any for me. Oh, well," Mortimer reached behind the tower and pulled out what looked to be a smaller, younger version of Goofy. The only differences were that this one had long, wild black hair, a baggy red t-shirt, blue pants with a vertical yellow stripe on each leg, his jacket had a hood and pull strings and he was tightly bound and gagged. Sora could only assume this was Max by the frightened look on Goofy's face.

"Maxie!" Goofy exclaimed as tears started to pour down his face. Pete and Mortimer only laughed cruelly.

"Okay, that does it!" Sora exclaimed as he summoned Kingdom Key, the rest of the party did the same. Riku's Keyblade closely resembled his former weapon, Soul Eater, only it was part angel wings as well as bat wings, the keychain was half of the heartless emblem. Riku had named it "Way to Dawn". Kairi's Keyblade reminded Sora greatly of their islands; the hilt was a heart that turned into a wave, the key part consisted of many flowers, while the keychain was a paupu fruit. Shortly after they had gotten home, she had named it "Destiny's Embrace". Mickey wasn't wielding Kingdom Key D, like Sora had previously seen him use, instead he was wielding Star Seeker; which was a light purple Keyblade decorated with many stars and crescent moons. Neither Donald nor Goofy had Keyblades, but instead brought up their own weapons. Donald was holding Mage's Staff, while Goofy was holding Knight's Shield.

"You really think you can fight both of us and the heartless?" Mortimer laughed, "fine," he reached behind his back and pulled out a small red and blue pistol and pointed it at the party, while Pete laughed and raised his fists. He then whistled and at least thirty shadow heartless appeared out of the ground. Riku and Sora charged at Pete, while Mickey and Goofy charged at Mortimer, leaving Kairi and Donald to deal with the heartless.

"Let Max go Mortimer," Mickey spoke in a calm yet angry voice, "then we can fight fairly." Mortimer's smirk only grew as he walked backwards, keeping Max close to him and never lowering his pistol.

"I don't think so, Mick," he said, "As you probably remember, I don't fight fair, ah cha cha!" Mortimer then threw the still bound Max onto the ground a few feet away from him. He then snapped his fingers and a few shadow heartless appeared around Max, staring hungrily at him. But, before a heatless could devour his heart, it was destroyed by Goofy's shield. Goofy nodded encouragingly at Mickey. Mickey returned the nod and charged at Mortimer.

Riku and Sora were having no problem knocking Pete around. Even though it had been a year since they last met, Pete had made no improvement in his combat skills. Once Pete was knocked down, Sora rushed over to help Goofy defend Max, while Riku helped Kairi and Donald deal with the remaining heartless. Mickey was constantly dodging dark bullets from Mortimer's pistol, still having yet to throw in a solid hid. Once Sora and Goofy destroyed the heartless surrounding Max, they quickly moved to untie him. Once Max was untied, Goofy embraced his son in a tight hug, but Max wasn't thinking about reunions now. He quickly wriggled out of his dad's hug and ran towards the tower. It was then Sora realized there was a skateboard lying there. It was yellow with a blue outline of the King's insignia, while the inside of the outline was black. Max grabbed the skateboard, hopped on and was moving right towards Mortimer. Mortimer looked to see Max riding towards him looking determined; he didn't even notice Mickey send a blow to his chest, causing him to fall to the ground. While he was on the ground, Max ran over him as a small crunching noise was heard.

"That was for kidnapping me," Max growled as he rode off of Mortimer and another crunching noise was heard. Once Mortimer saw that all the heartless had been defeated, he winced. Then, Pete slowly rose from the ground,

"Hunh... wha...?" Pete asked, looking confused. Mortimer quickly got up to his feet, ran towards Pete and grabbed his arm.

"C'mon Pete, let's get outta here," Mortimer said as both of them disappeared through a corridor of darkness. As soon as Max knew they were gone, he quickly embraced Goofy.

"Thanks, Dad," Max smiled as Goofy returned the hug. The party stayed for a moment to watch the father and son reunion until Mickey spoke up.

"Come on, Yen Sid is waiting for us,"

~*KHIII*~

Sometime later, the group of seven had reached the top of the tower. Yen Sid was standing in front one of the many windows, once he heard the door close he turned to the group that had just walked in, who all bowed in respect.

"Nice to see you again, Master Yen Sid," Mickey said.

"Yes, It is. I am pleased to see that you were all able to make it," Yen Sid replied as he sat down at his desk, "Now to buisiness; the Mark of Mastery exam,"

"Don't worry sir, me and Riku; we're ready!" Sora exclaimed enthusiastically while Riku gave a slightly nervous nod.

"I believe you are, Sora," Yen Sid chuckled, "However, I have a reason th believe that the two of you are not the only ones capable of performing this exam," Yen Sid then looked directly towards Kairi, whose face immediately filled with shock and confusion.

"Me?" Kairi asked as Yen Sid nodded, "Master, I don't think I can," she stammered, "I haven't been able to do anything, I'm still just a beginner, I-"

"Calm yourself," Yen Sid interrupted, "Kairi, I realize that this is a shock to you, but you have made astounding progress in this last year alone. Along with all the secret training you have done, I truly believe you are just as qualified as Sora and Riku." The others turned to look at Kairi with confusion plastered on their faces.

"Secret training?" Donald questioned.

"Let me guess; Minnie and Daisy knew about this?" Mickey sighed and crossed his arms. Kairi responded with an embaresed nod,

"I just felt so useless back at the World That Never Was, I wanted to be able to be more help if another quest ever came up. Minnie and Daisy sent me training exercises and training holograms to practice on, but I had no idea what I was doing would qualify me as a master," Kairi explained.

"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Riku asked as Kairi shrugged,

"I knew my dad would hate the idea, so I just didn't tell anyone," The princess of heart turned back towards Yen Sid, "But sir, I really don't think I'm ready for this,"

"Kairi," Sora suddenly stated causing everyone to stare at him, "Relax, you're over thinking this. If you really have been training by yourself then that determination already proves you have what it takes," at this point, Sora had made it over to Kairi's side and was holding her hands in an encouraging embrace, "You weren't useless on the World that Never Was. And we all believe in you now," Kairi nodded her understanding and turned to face the others who all had looks of encouragement.

"So how 'bout it, Kairi?" Goofy asked, "Ya ready ta take the exam?"

"I'm ready!" Kairi stated strongly causing the Disney residents To burst into cheers and applause.

"Excellent, then we shall get started," Yen Sid declared as Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Max stood off to the side with encouraging looks on their faces. Sora, Kairi and Riku now stood proudly in a line in front of Master Yen Sid. Yen Sid rose from his desk and spoke, "Today, you will be examined for the Mark of Mastery. Three of the Keyblade's chosen stand here as candidates. Each Master believes in a different approach when it comes to this examination. I for instance, believe our greatest weaknesses lie in our memories. In this exam, you stand alone. You will be tested on your abilities in combat, judgement and the strength of your heart. I will transport each of you individually to a simulation of a world created from your memories. In this world you will face an enemy different from the heartless; an enemy that devours dreams. You will encounter many foes and allies. Near the end of your examination, you will be confronted by a being of great darkness; a great enemy. Your journeys will be different for each of you. Your objective is simple; separate your allies from your enemies, choose when to fight and when to stand down and defeat your enemies, you must defeat your greatest in order to pass. Are you prepared?"

"Yes," Sora, Riku and Kairi said in unison.

"Then let the examination begin!" Yen Sid waved his hands and the three keybearers began to glow gold. Soon, they became small glowing balls of light and flew into Yen Sid's desk. The Disney Castle residents gathered around the desk and looked as the desk magically became a view screen.

"Do you think they'll be alright?" Mickey asked.

"I can only hope that they do not make the same mistake he made. As of this moment, the Mark of Mastery has begun."

**PrismRain13: Yay! Next chapter is the one we've all been waiting for folks!**

**Donald: Mine and Daisy's wedding?**

**PrismRain13: ...no.**

**Donald: aww...**

**PrismRain13: Mortimer Mouse and Max Goof are from both classic and modern Disney cartoons and movies, including **_**House of Mouse**_**. Mortimer's first appearance was **_**Mickey's Rival**_**, while Max's was **_**Goof Troop**_**.**

**Donald: Why are you telling people this?**

**PrismRain13: I just find it annoying when I read a KH story and people bring in characters from Disney or Final Fantasy and don't tell us where there from.**

**Donald: ...yeah, that's annoying.**


	5. Mark of Mastery

**PrismRain13: YES! Time for the Mark of Mastery test people! Completely Redone!**

**Yen Sid: I do hope you're not going to make this too difficult for them.**

**PrismRain13: *smirk* ...maybe. Now, disclaimer please?**

**Yen Sid: PrismRain13 does not claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy; those belong to their respective owners. Nor does she own the theme song; **_**Final Distance**_**, that belongs to Utada Hikaru. She does however own the plot and her original characters.**

_**Chapter 4: Mark of Mastery**_

Sora felt extremely light, but his world was completely black. A small voice at the back o his mind told him to open his eyes and he did, revealing himself to be in a world that he hadn't seen in a long time. An eternal star-lit sky, run-down wooden buildings and shops with colorful signs.

"Traverse Town..." Sora barely whispered, "What am I doing here?" he recognized himself standing in the middle of the stone streets of the first district. Sora then looked down at himself and gasped when he saw that his clothing had completely changed; red and black puffy shorts with large pockets, a blue belt, a black shirt with a white "X", his old yellow shoes, a short-sleeved hoodie that matched his shorts, a black version of his old gloves and his crown pendant still sat around his neck.

_**Traverse Town**_

"Okay, Sora, take a deep breath," Sora murmured, "Yen Sid said that I'd find some allies here; I just need to look around," he then cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted as loud as he could, "HELLO! IS ANYONE THERE?"

"Would you keep it down?" an annoyed voice groaned, "That's loud enough to wake the dead!" suddenly, a boy with orange spicky hair dressed in white shorts, a dark blue and black sleeveless shirt and matching headphones and shoes jumped down from the roof of the accessory shop causing Sora to jump in surprise, "You're Sora, right?" the boy asked.

"Y-yeah, how'd you know?" Sora stammered.

"Some old guy in a pointy hat just came up to me and told me to look for someone named Sora here," he shrugged

_Yen Sid, _Sora thought, "Did he say why?" the boy shook his head.

"Didn't say anything else," he replied, as he turned away from Sora and crossed his arms "In all honesty I don't really care why I had to come meet you. This is just wasting my time, I don't have much left as it is."

"Time?" Sora asked suddenly worried about the orange-haired boy, "What do you mean?" the boy sighed and ran his fingers through his hair before he turned back to face Sora and reluctantly held out his palm. Sora gasped at what he saw; a dark purple glowing timer tht was counting down from forty-five minuites.

"It's from the Reaper's game," the boy explained, "If you don't complete a mission by the time the timer stops then the Reapers erase you. I need to win this game," Sora gazed at the boy's hand and shook his head.

"I don't really understand this game, but maybe I can help you out?" At this the boy instantly pulled his hand away and glared at Sora.

"You can't help me!" he snapped, "no one can. Besides, I need a partner to finish this mission and I haven't seen her in days."

"Look, we're both stuck here and we both need help," Sora said in an optimistic tone, "So for now, I'll be your partner." The boy sighed as he loosened his glare.

"Okay, you've made your point. But as soon as the mission's done then we go our separate ways,"

"Sounds like a plan," Sora said, still keeping a smile on his face, "But I guess I'm going to have to know your name," ther was a moment of silence between the two, until the boy spoke again,

"Neku. Neku Sakuraba," the boy told him.

"Neku..." Sora murmured, "That's a cool name!"

"It's nothing special!" Neku suddenly snapped as the two of them began walking towards a large wooden door beside the restaurant.

~*KHIII*~

Riku slowly opened his eyes. As his vision came into focus he recognized that he was standing in the lit-up area of Traverse Town's third district. Like Sora, Riku also noticed that his attire had been altered; he was now dressed in a black, yellow and white zip-up high collared shirt with a black symbol on the back that slightly resembled the heartless symbol, black wristbands, jeans and white lace-up sneakers? Riku then began looking around the space for any sign of anyone else.

"Sora? Kairi? Are you guys here?" Riku called.

"Well, do my eyes deceive me? Riku, It's been awhile," a familliar voice echoed. Riku turned to find the source and found a boy with wavy dirty-blond hair garbbed in a grey button-up shirt, black pants and white sneakers sitting on top of the golden fountain. Riku smiled at the sight of one of his old allies.

"Joshua? Is that you?" Riku asked as Joshua smirked.

"In the flesh," Joshua then jumped down from his position on the fountain and began walking over to Riku, "Look at you, all grown up and a soon-to be keyblade master. Let's just hope you get through this exam."

"How do you know about the Mark of Mastery?" Riku demanded.

"Oh, Master Yen Sid and I go way back," Joshua chuckled. Riku sighed in defeat, knowing that Joshua wouldn't give him any more information than that, "By the way, whatever happened to that girl you were with, the perky one?" at Joshua's words, Riku let out a pained sigh. Joshua seemed to understand and said, "Oh that's too bad; I liked her,"

"Well, I guess I'd better get going on this exam. Yen Sid said that my allies are supposed to help me, so if you're up to it," a smile appeared on Joshua's face as if he knew what Riku was going to say next,

"I consider it an honor, future Master Riku,"

~*KHIII*~

Kairi allowed herself to quickly open her eyes, completely unsure of what to expect. She was shocked to find herself standing in the middle of Traverse Town's second district and her clothing changed. Now she was wearing a pale pink sleeveless robe that reached down to her knees, a short white tank top with a dark pink heart symbol, a purple skirt with a wavy trim, a dark pink belt that loosely hung around her hips, a baby blue pair of high tops. On one arm were two arm bands; one was baggy and completely covered her forearm, it was yellow with a dark pink trim, while the second was purple and sat around her upper arm. On her other wrist were three bracelets; white, black and baby blue. Around her neck was her usual necklace and a black chocker.

"Hello? Sora? Riku?" Kairi called. Just then out of the corner of her eye, Kairi saw a girl dressed in white standing beside a wooden door which Kairi knew led to the alleyway. "Naminé?" Kairi questioned, recognizing her nobody. Naminé only looked at her with sad eyes before opening the door and walking into the alley. "Naminé! Wait!" Kairi called as she ran after her nobody. Once Kairi burst through the alleyway, she saw Naminé slowly walking into the secret waterway. Kairi didn't understand why she was going there, but followed her anyway. Inside, Naminé was gazing at the mural as Kairi moved to stand alongside her.

"You doubt yourself, Kairi," Naminé said softly, "I can feel it,"

"What if I don't get through this, Naminé?" Kairi sighed, "I don't even know what I'm supposed to do."

"You'll learn," Naminé smiled, "Trust your instincts, they'll guide you. Our memories betray us at times, but other times they aid us," Naminé gave an encouraging nod before walking up to the mural and dissapearing in a flash of yellow light. Kairi stood there for awhile, ran her fingers through her hair and let out a deep sigh.

"What was she talking about?" Kairi muttered under her breath, but before Kairi could finish her thought a shrill pained scream was heard from the direction of the alleyway,

"Someone! Please help!" the voice screamed. Without a second thought Kairi ran out of the waterway and sprinted towards the screams. When Kairi emerged she saw a girl her age with long dark red hair covered by a cute hat, dressed in a black and red tank top, yellow sleeveless hoodie, silver necklace, a green mini-skirt and brown knee-length boots holding a black cat plushie to her chest. She had a scared look in her eyes as she was surrounded by several evil-looking colorful creatures all had a symbol like the one on Kairi's shirt, but the symbol on these creatures had bat wings. One that resembled a bird lunged for the girl as she cowered with her hands over her head. But the creature was unable to attack because at that moment, Kairi destroyed it with her Keyblade.

"You look like you need a hand," Kairi said as the girl removed her hands to see who had saved her. Kairi wasted no time in attacking the creatures, thinking about every technique she knew from her secret training. The princess of heart was so focused that she didn't see when a frog-like creature lunged for her, but luckily someone did.

"Look out!" the girl Kairi had just saved exclaimed as the creature was destroyed by the girl's stuffed cat that had somehow come to life. Kairi watched her fight for awhile; she must have been controlling the cat somehow because as she did certain hand motions, the cat moved and attacked. Kairi was soon brought back to the battle in front of her by just barely dodging an attack from a cat-like creature. The two girl continued to fight alongside each other untithat'll their enemies had vanished. The girl picked up her stuffed cat as it immediately went limp.

"Thanks for the help back there," The girl wheezed, "I thought I was a goner!"

"Don't worry about it," Kairi smiled as she dismissed her Keyblade, "by the way, I'm Kairi."

"Nice to meet you, Kairi. I'm Shiki," she then held out her stuffed cat towards her new friend, "and this is Mr. Mew." Kairi playfully petted the stuffed cat, before turning back towards Shiki.

"What were those things? I don't think I've ever seen them before." Kairi asked.

"They're called dream eaters," Shiki explained, "They've been a real pain in the neck; every time I beat a group-" before Shiki could finish her sentence, another group of dream eaters appeared. Only this group looked a little tougher and meaner than the last group, "-more show up," Shiki grumbled as she tossed Mr. Mew in front of her and he immediately sprang to life while Kairi drew Destiny's Embrace. The dream eaters were just about to attack before somethng colorful jumped in front of the two girls and attacked all the dream eaters. Kairi and Shiki looked at eachother in confusion just as the last dream eater was destroyed and their savior revealed itself to them,

"Is that a dream eater?" Kairi asked. But, this dream eater looked considerably different than the others; it resembled a ram but had two large blue megaphone-horns on its head, a heavy turquoise mane and tail while it's body was white and had orange swirls on its legs and on its back was a pink symbol identical to the one on Kairi's shirt. The dream eater walked up to Kairi and nuzzled against her, "...Yoggy Ram" Kairi murmured as she petted the dream eater, Kairi could have sworn she had just heard it purr, "Why isn't this one attacking us?" Kairi asked.

"I think I heard somewhere that dream eaters are divided into two groups; spirits and nightmares. If I remember correctly, the nightmares are the ones that cause chaos and the spirits fight the nightmares," Shiki explained.

"So this one must be a spirit," Kairi realized as Yoggy Ram bounced happily around the two girls, "Thanks for saving us, Yoggy Ram. We're going to be looking around town more, so if you want to come-" Kairi had no time to finish as Yoggy Ram let out a squeal of joy and nuzzled up towards Kairi again.

"I think that's a yes," Shiki giggled. The group shared a moment of laughter, before wandering into the first district, Yoggy Ram following closely behind.

~*KHIII*~

Sora's eyes widened in surprise and excitement at the sight of Traverse Town's fourth district. There were several colorful signs, lights and archways with multiple equally colorful balloons floating into the sky. And right in the center was an enormous Colliseum. Neku rolled his eyes at Sora's reaction,

"It's just the fourth district; nothing to get excited about," Neku grumbled.

"How did I miss this place?" Sora thought out loud with the smile still plastered on his face.

"Maybe you couldn't find it before cuz it didn't wanna be found," a small voice suggested. Neku and Sora both turned around to find a young girl with short blonde hair covered by a black beanie, she was dressedin a pink sweater with a heart-shaped skull printed on it, white overall-like shorts and a bell necklace. Neku had no problems in recognizing her.

"Rhyme, what are you doing here? Did you follow us?" Neku asked as she shook her head.

"Is she your partner, the one you were telling me about?" Sora asked Neku who shook his head,

"She's my friend's little sister," Neku explained as he turned back towards Rhyme, "Rhyme you should go find Beat and-" but before Neku could finish, the three were soon surrounded by multiple black and pink evil-looking fat cat-like creatures.

"Dream eaters!" Rhyme squealed as she grabbed on to Neku's torso for comfort. Without a second thought, Sora summoned his Keyblade and moved to attack the dream eaters. Neku stared at Sora as he fearlessly fought against the monsters in order to protect two people he didn't know. Making up his mind, Neku pried Rhyme's arms off his waist, pulled her off safely to the side and began firing several blasts of fire, ice and lightning at the dream eaters. Sora attacked the creatures around him with swift attacks from his Keyblade and small blasts of magic, while Neku defended Rhyme at a safe distance and fired his magic, with what looked to Sora to be no weapon at all. Soon, all the dream eaters had been defeated and the three let out sighs of relief.

"I was starting to wonder when they were going to show up," Neku grumbled.

"Well, at least we beat them, right?" Sora stated optimistically. Suddenly there was a loud meow from behind the group of three. They turned around and found a dream eater that looked similar than the ones they fought only it had a blue and yellow color scheme and the symbol on its front was slightly different. The dream eater was standing on the top of the steps of the Colliseum then it bounced down the steps, landing on its rear.

"This one's mine!" Neku snarled as he charged towards the dream eater. But, Sora noticed that as soon as Neku started running towards it, the dream eater covered it's eyes with its paws and immediately started shaking in fear.

"Wait!" Sora exclaimed as he stood protectively in front of the dream eater, "Don't hurt him!"

"Sora, that's a dream eater-" Neku started to say.

"I know!" Sora interrupted, "But look at him, Meow Wow's not like the ones we just fought!" the dream eater removed its paws from its face and looked up at Sora with admiration.

"Meow Wow?" Neku asked as he crossed his arms.

"That's what I decided to name him." Sora explained.

"Sora might be right, Neku," Rhyme said, "Dream Eaters come in two kinds, remember? The spirits are the good ones and the nightmares are the bad ones. I think Meow Wow is a spirit and should come with us." Sora looked down at Meow wow, who had now gone on all fours.

"What do you think, Meow wow?" Sora asked, "Do you wanna come with us? I promise I won't let Neku hurt you." As soon as the words left his mouth Meow Wow bounced happilly around the three. Then before Sora knew it the spirit had knocked him down and began playfully licking his face. Sora and Rhyme immediately burst into laughter, even Neku managed a small smile. But, Sora stopped laughing as he noticed out of the corner of his eye, a figure in a black organization coat. The figure turned his head to look at the group, only then to run off in the opposite direction.

"Hey wait!" Sora called as he ran after the figure. Neku stood there staring at Sora until he was long gone. The orange-haired teen looked towards Rhyme and Meow Wow as the three of them shrugged then ran after the Keybearer. Sora chased the figure through the winding streets of the fourth district. Finally, they came about a dead end, for which Sora was grateful. The figure let out a sigh of defeat before reluctantly removing his hood. Sora gasped in shock as the figure revealed himself as Roxas.

"You gave me quite a workout there," Roxas smiled.

"Roxas?" Sora asked in astonishment, "What are you doing here?"

"Not much," the nobody replied casually, "Just checking your progress. I have to admit, you're doing much better than I would have done."

"What do you mean?"

"It's just something about you," Roxas chuckled, "You always seem to know a bad apple from a good one, like how you decided that dream eater was good. It's something I've always admired about you." the two boys stayed silent, until Sora grumbled something under his breath.

"It's not fair," Sora grumbled. When Roxas gave him a confused look, Sora raised his voice, "It's not fair that you don't get to live your own life. That you always have to live in my shadow; both you and Naminé deserve it and your own hearts."

"Sora," Roxas replied, "Naminé and I don't mind our current lifestyle. Plus, I'm not even sure there is a way to give us our own hearts." Roxas walked past Sora, towards the entrance of the alley.

"What if there was?" Sora asked, as Roxas stopped walking.

"Then you'll have my eternal gratitude." the nobody replied as he turned to face Sora, smiling at his other then vanishing in a flash of golden light. Just as Neku, Rhyme and Meow Wow appeared at the entrance of the alley.

~*KHIII*~

Joshua and Riku silently strode into the first district, the two of them finding nothing to talk about. Suddenly, that silence was broken by a voice calling out to the silver-hairboy young man,

"Yo! Riku, that you?" Joshua and Riku turned to the directon of the voice, finding a blond boy in a skull cap, white muscle shirt, cargo shorts, black wristband and chain necklace.

"Beat?" Riku asked, "Is that you?"

"Yeah man!" Beat replied as he jumped down from the ledge and caught Riku in a bone-crushing bear hug, "Great ta see ya!"

"Think you can let go of me?" Riku choked as Beat let go of him and laughed nervously, "So what are you guys doing here?" Before either Beat or Joshua could awnser, a colorful pink and yellow bat appeared in a flash of yellow light and began flying around the three boys. Immediately, Joshua and Beat stood in attack poses.

"It's a dream eater!" Beat exclaimed, "Stand back, I'll take care of this one yo!" He pulled out a skateboard from behind his back and ran towards the dream eater. The bat flew out of the way just in time as more dream eaters surrounded the group of three. These were all much more evil-looking and had a darker colour scheme. Before any of the boys could move to attack, the bat flew right into the evil ones, reducing them to nothing. The boys stared at the dream eater helping them, but still fought alongdside it. Once all their enemies were gone, the bat flew up to Riku, sat on his shoulder and nuzzled up to him.

"I think he likes you." Joshua chuckled as he scratched the bat behind the ears.

"Komory Bat," Riku unexpectedly stated. As soon as the words left his mouth, the at instantly perked up, "Is that your name?" Komory Bat released a rapid nod as Beat scratched the back of his head.

"Uhh... Thanks yo, never thought a dream eater would be fight'in dream eaters," the skateboarder said.

"You wanna come with us?" Riku asked as Komory Bat nodded enthusiastically.

"I never thought of you as the type to take in pets," a feminine voice said from behind the group, "But, I guess I never took the time to get to know you." the group turned around to find a short figure in a black Organization XIII coat. The figure slowly removed their hood to reveal a girl who looked nearly identical to Kairi except she had short black hair. Riku raised an eyebrow at her.

"Who are you? Why do you look so familiar?" Riku asked as the girl sighed.

"Why am I not surprised? Don't worry; the memories will come back eventually, just try to remember." the girl turned her back to them and started walking away, but then turned back to face them, "Oh, and Riku, don't let your past distract you from the present; keep in mind that how we treat our memories determines our outcome." the girl smiled at him before disappearing in a flash of golden light. Komory Bat looked at Riku with a worried expression,

"Who was she?" Riku questioned with a confused expression.

**PrismRain13: Hope you like the remake! I'll finish the exam next chapter. So Neku, Shiki, Joshua, Beat and Rhyme are from the video game _The World Ends With You_ from Square. And the dream eaters are going to appear in KH3D (so excited!) and, if you're wondering how Riku knows WEWY characters, check out this story's prequel _Another Side Another Story_ on my profile. Read and Review!**


	6. Dream Drop Distance

**PrismRain13: And now we are continuing the Mark of Mastery exam. The remake!**

**Neku: Woopdie...**

**PrismRain13: Wow, someone's moody today, disclaimer please Neku.**

**Neku: *sigh* PrismRain13 doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Final Distance (the theme song); those belong to their respective owners. She does however own the plot and her OC's. One of which is mentioned in this chapter. See if you can catch the Lion King refrance.**

_**Chapter 5: Dream Drop Distance**_

Kairi, Shiki and Yoggy Ram walked in silence towards the first district, fighting every odd army of nightmares that crossed their path. Once they exited the alley, a single nightmare appeared in front of them. But, before anyone could make a move it was quickly destroyed by a flaming red and silver chackram. Kairi's eyes widened at the weapon as a man in a black coat, spiky red hair, green eyes and two tear-drop shaped tattoos strode over and picked up the chackram.

"Long time no see, Princess," the man smirked.

"Axel?" Kairi questioned, "What are you doing here?" Shiki and Yoggy Ram both looked at her in confusion, then back at Axel.

"What? Do I need a reason to rescue a damsel in distress?" Axel chuckled as his weapons disappeared. Kairi crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Laugh all you want, Axel, but I am not that weak defenseless girl anymore," Kairi stated.

"Yeah right," Axel smirked, "You don't even know what you're supposed to do here!"

"Well, maybe I wouldn't be so clueless if you'd stop mocking me and actually be oh I dunno... Helpful?" In response, Axel turned his back to the group and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Nah, I don't feel like it," annoyed that they were getting nowhere, Shiki stepped forward,

"If you know something, why don't you just come right out and tell us? If you don't we can always sic Yoggy Ram on you," to prove her point, Yoggy Ram raised his hoves in the air and released a battle cry. Axel sighed in defeat, before turning back towards the group.

"Okay fine; there's someone from your past waiting for you up ahead. Just make sure you're ready for that fight. Got it memorized?" Kairi nodded her understanding.

"Thanks Axel," the nobody only released a small smile before vanishing in a burst of light.

~*KHIII*~

Sora, Neku, Rhyme and Meow Wow wandered into the fifth district with the spirit bouncing around the three humans playfully. Rhyme and Sora were both quickly becoming attached to the little dream eater, but Neku still found him annoying. Just as the group arrived near the center a burst of light appeared in front of them and from that light a figure clad in green armour holding a backwards Keyblade walked out.

"Let's see how much you've grown," the figure said in a voice identical to Roxas as he raised his Keyblade, "You need to be ready for what awaits you." in response Sora raised Kingdom Key, Neku pushed Rhyme off to the side and raised his fist and Meow Wow stood in an attack pose. The three ran into battle against the armoured figure. Their opponent attacked them with blasts of wind and rapid fast attacks, proving to be a match for the three. Meow Wow bounced up and down around the enemy, causing the ground to tremble, causing a great deal of damage. Sora attacked with several blasts of magic and rapid swipes from his blade and Neku remained at a safe distance and fired his own unique spells. Looking to finish the fight quickly, Sora and Neku locked eyes.

"Another world awaits," Neku stated.

"And you're going!" Sora countered as he and Neku stood back to back, firing a variety of spells at their opponent, causing him tobecome staggered very well and draining energy from their enemy, "Work for you?"

"What do you think?" Neku grumbled as both boys gathered up each a glowing blue ball of energy. Sora raised his Keyblade and Neku raised his hand as two glowing blue beams of light shot out, hitting their opponent directly in the chest, sending him colliding into the wall (1). The figure staggered to his feet, signifying that he had lost. He then removed his helmet, revealing a face and hair identical to Roxas. Sora gasped in shock,

"Who are you?" Sora asked.

"Just a friend," the young man smiled, "Keep up the good work, Sora. Just keep being you," the figure smiled, before fading away in light.

"Well, glad we got that out of the way," Sora smiled, "Rhyme, you can come out now; we're done here." but, there was no awnser. Meow Wow wandered around the space, looking in several directions for Rhyme, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Rhyme? Rhyme where are you?" Neku called, "She's gone, we better take another look around town."

"Don't worry, we'll find her," Sora said in a reassuring tone as Meow Wow nodded in agreement, then the trio ran towards the first district.

~*KHIII*~

After their encounter with Axel, Kairi and her team wandered into the first district, finding their opponent standing there already waiting for them. It was a tall feminine figure garbed in silver and blue armour and helmet. As soon as the group of three became close enough. The woman gracefully turned to face them, a silver and blue Keyblade appearing in her hand.

"Look at you," the woman said, "All grown up. Now, let's see if your skils are worthy of a master!" with that, the woman charged towards Kairi, with her Keyblade ready to strike. But the attack was blocked by Kairi's Keyblade. Shiki allowed Mr. Mew to come to life and jump out of her arms, and by several hand movements, allowed him to attack the woman. Yoggy Ram followed the two girls into battle, kicking their opponent with his hoves. Kairi fought alongside both of them sing several slashes from her Keyblade and small spells of fire, ice and lightning magic. The woman had proven to be a worthy opponent, using advanced, complicated magic spells and other attacks involving advanced magic.

Yoggy ram then strode up beside Kairi and tilted his head, motioning for her to get on his back. Kairi complied by jumping on and holding on to his mane. Then, unexpectedly, Yoggy Ram rammed into the woman with an intense amount of speed multiple times, each hit causing more and more damage. Finally, Yoggy Ram stopped and began to gather up energy. Knowing what was coming, Kairi, Shiki and Mr. mew all covered their ears right when an enormous sound wave came out of Yoggy Ram's horns, sending the final blow to their opponent (2).

The woman staggered until she collided into the wall, holding her head. After a moment, she looked up at the ones who had defeated her, then she looked directly at Kairi. Locking eyes with her, the woman removed her helmet revealing a young woman with kind blue-violet eyes and short blue hair.

"Impressive," She said as she smiled, "I guess there are no such things as coincidences." Kairi only looked at the woman in confusion, wondering where she had seen her before.

"Why do you look so familiar?" she asked, "Have we met before?" the woman only smiled,

"You'll find out soon enough," was the only thing she said before disappearing in light.

~*KHIII*~

In the fourth district, Riku and his companions stopped in their tracks at the sight of a figure in bronze armour holding a matching Keyblade kneeling silently in front of them.

"Who wants to bet that's what we have to fight?" Joshua stated sarcastically with a sigh. At the sound of the young man's voice, the armoured figure turned its head up as if it were looking Riku directly in the eye.

"So, you've grown up," the figure said in a masculine voice, "The one I sent for. Now, let's see if I made the right choice." at these words, the man rose to his feet, ready to attack. Riku rose Way to Dawn and charged towards the armoured man. The man attacked with strong, powerful swipes from his Keyblade, firing small orbs of darkness and summoning earth to attack the group surrounding him. Riku swiped at the man roughly and used darker versions of magic. Beat attacked him with his skateboard and violent punches and kicks. Komory Bat flew around the three, healing Beat and Riku and flying directly into the armoured man, causing a great deal of damage. Ready to end the fight, Riku and Beat locked eyes and nodded to eachother.

"The Beat is on!" Beat exclaimed.

"Bring it!" Riku added. He and the skateboarder then bean to teleport rapidly around their enemy, causing quick persise damage. After a few rounds of this Riku and Beat turned to eachother again.

"Let's start it up!"

"No, let's end it!" The two boys stood still with the armoured man in the middle, until at the exact same time they rushed towards their opponent and violently slashed at him, leaving a silhouette of X shaped chains over their enemy (3). The armored man fell down to his knees, realizing that he had been defeated. The man removed his helmet to reveal bright blue eyes and spiky layered brown hair.

"Now I know I made the right choice, good luck Riku," the man stated as he vanished in golden light. Riku, Beat and Komory Bat stared at the spot where he disapeared from for a long time, until Beat broke the silence,

"Yo Joshua! Thanks for the help!" Beat called out sarcastically, before realizing that Joshua was nowhere to be found, "Yo! Josh-man where you at?" Beat called but no awnser came, "Where'd he go? He was with us when the fight'in started!" Komory Bat nodded in agreement

"We better go check out the rest of town; he couldn't have gone far," Riku suggested to his companions as they both nodded and the trio sprinted towards the exit.

~*KHIII*~

Sora, Neku and Meow Wow ran back to the first district and stopped to catch their breath, having just searched all of the town for Rhyme. The nightmare dream eater numbers seemed to have been growing because they had encountered them nearly around every corner. Neku whipped the sweat from his brow as he turned towards his two companions,

"This is getting us nowhere!" Neku wheezed, "Beat's gonna kill me!"

"Don't worry; we'll find her," Sora stated reasuringly as Meow Wow nodded. Suddenly, the trio stopped dead in their tracks as they heard a deep voice speak to them.

"So, it would seem your heart has lead you to obliteration," Sora looked behind him and saw a tall, muscular silver-haired man dressed in a long black cloak, "perhaps it doesn't pay to be too loyal to one's heart. I'd have to be sure to remember that,"

"Xemnas!" Sora exclaimed as he summoned Kingdom Key, "What are you doing here?" seeing this man as an enemy, Neku and Meow Wow stood protectively on each side of Sora.

"You are a hero of light, a wielder of the Keyblade,"

"That's Master to you!" Sora growled. Xemnas laughed.

"I truly have no doubt that you will pass this exam. I could only wish he had," Sora raised an eyebrow, "A young man I once knew, it was his dream to become a master, but failed because of darkness he possessed. Which made him the perfect host."

"Shut up! We don't care what you have to say!" Neku growled as Sora pointed his Keyblade at Xemnas,

"As soon as I'm done here, I'm going to help all those people who are hurting! And you won't stand in my way!" Xemnas simply rose into the air, smirked and crossed his arms over his chest. While Sora ran towards him; Keyblade in hand. Xemnas's red Ethereal Blades appeared in his hands and managed to block many of the attacks Sora threw at him. "Fire!" Sora yelled and a burst of flames burst from the Keyblade and flew right towards Xemnas, temporarily knocking the wind out of him. Sora used this opportunity to send a variety of slashes to Xemnas's body. Neku ran behind Sora into the fight, but was soon knocked away by Xemnas.

Meow Wow observed the situation around him and quickly knocked Sora out of the way from an incoming attack from the nobody leader. Meow Wow motioned for Sora to climb onto his back and Sora quickly complied. Meow Wow then began to bounce up and down around Xemnas creating massive shockwaves and damage. Meow Wow then leaped up into the air one more time, creating one last shockwave (4). Xemnas snarled at the trio before summoning his blades again and charging towards them once more. Neku raised his hands creating a glowing shield that protected him and Meow Wow, while Xemnas was distracted Sora raised Kingdom Key and slammed it into Xemnas's side, dealing the final blow. Xemnas howled in pain as he began to slowly fade away, but not before glaring deeply into Sora's eyes.

"Enjoy your little victory while you can, Sora, but I will tell you that all that you stand for will soon disappear! And tell Roxas that he's not quite off the hook yet." as the words left his mouth Xemnas vanished, leaving the trio to stand there in silence.

"Sora! Neku! Meow Wow!" a voice behind them called. The group turned around to find Rhyme running towards them with a big smile on her face. Meow Wow was so excited that he knocked Rhyme on the ground and began excitedly licking her face.

"Rhyme!" Neku exclaimed, "Where were you? What happened?"

"Xemnas grabbed me when you guys were fighting the guy in armor," Rhyme explained, "Thanks for saving me," she then pushed Meow Wow off her and hugged the two boys and dream eater. Just then, Sora looked down at himself and noticed that he was giving off a golden glow and he began to slowly float into the sky, Neku, Rhyme and Meow Wow noticed too and stood there to watch him.

"Looks like your exam's done," Neku stated, "Good luck out there" the orange-haired boy managed a small smile while Rhyme and Meow Wow waved goodbye.

"Yeah, thanks guys! See you around!" Sora continued to float into the air until he was seen as nothing but a glowing speck in the sky, the group of three almost certain that they'll see him again.

~*KHIII*~

Kairi, Shiki and Yoggy Ram burst open the doors to the third district, realizing that there was already someone there. A boy in a smooth black mask and dressed in a bodysuit similar to the one Riku had once wore, only this one was black and red. The boy turned to face the group and if he didn't have his mask Kairi would have thought he was smirking.

"You've done well to make it this far, princess. But do you really think you can pass this exam?" the boy spoke in a venomous voice.

"Who are you?" Kairi asked as she raised her Keyblade, "What makes you think I can't pass?" the boy chuckled.

"If you remember correctly, princess, when Sora went to battle, you stayed behind and did nothing!"

"That's not true! Kairi's not as weak as you think! And we'll stand by her to prove it!" Shiki stated as Mr. Mew jumped out of her arms and raised his fists while Yoggy Ram snorted and raised his hoves in emphasis. The boy glanced at the trio before bursting out into laughter.

"Ohh! Two little girls and a colourful pony! I'm soooo scared!" The boy laughed before raising his hand and a dark gear-like keyblade appeared, "This'll be over in a snap!" The boy wasted no time in charging towards Kairi who raised her Keyblade to block the attack then swipe at him. Shiki followed closely behind, commanding Mr. Mew to attack the boy with everything he had. Yoggy Ram joined in the fight by kicking their enemy and sending out small soundwaves. The boy had proven himself to be a worthy opponent by teleporting around the battlefield and firing blasts of darkness. Shiki turned to Kairi, who nodded her understanding as the two girls stood back to back,

"Ready to die?" Shiki asked sarcastically

"Then die!" Kairi exclaimed as Mr. Mew stepped in front of them and the trio began to teleport around the battlefield firing multiple orbs of light in the boy's direction, once they were done, Mr. Mew stood in front of them again,

"Go Mr. Mew!"

"Let's get 'im!" in a split second, Mr. Mew began to grow five times bigger and floated off the ground. Shiki and Kairi both jumped on to Mr. Mew's back and the stuffed cat flew rapidly into the boy in several directions before sending one last blow (5). The boy slowly rose to his feet as he and Kairi locked Keyblades and their battle continued. Yoggy Ram roughly kicked the boy in the back, distracting him long enough for Shiki to command Mr. Mew to punch the boy in the jaw causing to stumble backwards and Kairi to stab him with Destiny's Embrace, dealing the final blow. The boy collapsed to the ground, and then began to slowly fade into darkness,

"Hmph, guess I underestimated you. I'll have to remember that," the boy stated weakly,

"Until next time, princess," with that said, the boy vanished. Kairi, Shiki and Yoggy Ram looked at each other in confusion.

"What do you think he meant by that?" Shiki asked as she picked up Mr. Mew and the plush went limp in her arms.

"I'm not sure..." Kairi said, suddenly she noticed that she was floating off the ground and becoming engulfed by a golden glow, "Is this the end of the exam?" Kairi asked as Shiki and Yoggy Ram gazed up at her in awe.

"I think it is, that last guy we fought was a piece of work," Shiki replied and Yoggy Ram nodded in agreement, "See you later, Kairi! And good luck!" Shiki and the dream eater waved.

"Bye guys! I'll see you around!" Kairi smiled back at them as she continued to be raised into the air.

~*KHIII*~

Riku, Beat and Komory Bat strode into the second district, fighting every pack of nightmare dream eaters they could. The group had just looked all over town for any sign of Joshua but finding nothing. Beat groaned in annoyance ad rubbed his head.

"Yo! This ain't gettin us nowhere!" Komory Bat landed on top of Beat's head and in response the young man waved his hands over his head in an attempt to get the bat off, "Hey! My head ain't a chair!" Riku chucked as they stopped right in front of the fountain. Suddenly sensing danger Riku stopped in his tracks and summoned Way to Dawn

"You've grown, Riku. Are you no longer afraid of your darkness?" a deep voice spoke from behind him. Before Riku turned around, he knew who it was.

"You never give up, do you, Ansem?" Riku turned around to see, sure enough Ansem, the seeker of darkness standing before him. Beat and Komory Bat stared up at the dark being in shock.

"Do I wanna know what's goin' on here?" Beat asked as Komory Bat shook his head. Ansem only chuckled and ignored Riku's companions.

"You just don't get it, do you, Riku? Like Terra, you'll never become a master, because of the darkness inside of you." Riku raised an eyebrow.

"What? Who's Terra?"

"You really don't remember, what a pity," Ansem walked towards Riku as Beat and Komory Bat stood protectively in front of him, "Let me ask you something, Riku. What do you think your friends would say if they knew the part you played in some world's destruction two years ago?"

"That's not going to work, Ansem. I put the past behind me,"

"But do you think she did? Do you think she'd forgive you for what happened to her?" Riku stepped backwards, "Oh, don't act like you don't know who I'm talking about. This was where you met her wasn't it? She saved your life on a number of occasions, yet how do you repay her? By letting her die,"

"Shut up!" Riku roared as he burst in front of Beat and Komory Bat, "I know what I did back then was wrong. I know I let a lot of people down, but I do know that West didn't die in vain!" Riku rushed towards Ansem swiping at him with his Keyblade, but Ansem skillfully dodged and summoned his guardian to attack Riku. Wasting no time, Beat and Komory Bat ran into battle to help him. Beat scraped Ansem's guardian, who was about to attack Beat, but was blocked by Komory Bat. Ansem snarled at the small dream eater and violently knocked him into Riku, who both slid across the ground.

Riku glanced down at Komory Bat who was cradled in his arms and rapidly shook his head. The dream eater then flew out of Riku's arms and handed Riku his claws. Getting the message, Riku grabbed on to Komory Bat's legs and the dream eater lifted him in the air as Riku rapidly slashed at Ansem and Komory Bat fired blasts of magic. Then, as a final blow to their limit, they both flew directly into Ansem at an intense speed causing a great deal of damage (6). Ansem was staggering to keep his balance and Beat saw this as the perfect opportunity to deal massive damage with his skateboard and Riku to deal the final blow. Ansem howled in pain as he crumpled to the ground, began to fade away and glare deeply into Riku's eyes.

"You really still think you can win?" Ansem laughed, "You couldn't save her, what makes you think you can save seven people?" Riku clenched his hands in his fists in anger as he watched Ansem disappear.

"Yo, man. Don't let what that creep says get ya down," Beat said to Riku in a comforting tone.

"Exactly," another voice interrupted the trio as they turned around to find Joshua walking casually towards them, "Where does that Ansem guy get off telling people that they're responsible for every bad thing that happens?"

"Joshua?" Riku asked, "Where did you go?" Joshua only chuckled,

"Oh, Ansem distracted me from the fight with that armored man," Joshua replied casually, "I took care of him of course, but I decided to stay out of the way after that. Besides, the two of you know how much I hate getting my hands dirty." Riku rolled his eyes but still smiled in relief to see that Joshua was alright. Riku glanced down at himself and saw that he was radiating a golden glow and slowly floating higher and higher into the air.

"Yo! What's happenin'?" Beat asked while Joshua smiled.

"Well, what do you know? Riku here actually cleared the exam," Joshua said, "Now all that's left to do is see if he passes,"

"Thanks, Josh," Riku said sarcastically, "I'll see you guys later, thanks for all the help!"

"Ya gotta come back yo! Don't make us wait!" Beat added as Komory Bat sat on his shoulder and Riku rose into the sky and noticed that there were two other beings coated in light floating over the first and second districts. Looking closely, Riku saw that they were Sora and Kairi. The three teenagers turned into three balls of light and flew off into the sky, they've completed the Mark of Mastery.

**PrismRain13: YES! The test is done people! Next chapter we announce the results and head back on the road!**

**Neku: Who's this "West" person Ansem was talking about?**

**PrismRain13: You'll see probably next chapter. Don't forget to review! It's not that hard, people! It's that little box at the bottom of the page! This has been your friendly neighbourhood nerd, PrismRain13! And, the quotes used for some of the limits are actually said in TWEWY, so I don't own them :)**

**(1): Neku's limit: _Psych Fusion_**

**(2): Yoggy Ram's limit: _Horn Burst_**

**(3): Beat's limit: _Beatbox_**

**(4): Meow Wow's limit: _Meowquake_**

**(5): Shiki's limit: _Girl Power!_**

**(6): Komory Bat's limit: _Dream Flight_**


	7. Vanitas and West

**PrismRain13: Here's the next chapter! We announce the results of the MOM exam, and then head back on the road! With an extra bit added!**

**Riku: *praying* Please let me pass! Please let me pass!**

**PrismRain13: What are you so worried about?**

**Riku: It's FanFiction; anything can happen!**

**PrismRain13: Would I really make you fail?**

**Riku: ...No idea. PrismRain13 doesn't claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. They belong to Square Enix and/or Disney. She does own the plot and her OC's.**

_**Chapter 6: Vanitas and West**_

Yen Sid and the Disney Castle residents continued watching the desk, until the three Keybearers had defeated their opponents and said their goodbyes. As soon as they had, three small balls of light appeared form inside the desk and materialized into the three teenagers. They were all back into their old clothes and all three of them looked very exhausted. Yen Sid stood to his feet waved his hands and conjured some wooden chairs for the three teenagers to sit on and three glasses of water, which the three gladly took.

"The Mark of Mastery is no easy task, I know. But I am very impressed with how the three of you performed. I must admit that you have done remarkably well. I believe that the end result is clear," Sora cringed in his seat, while Kairi started biting her nails and Riku looked down at his shoes, "All three of you have passed with flying colors." The three teenagers perked up from their seats with huge smiles on their faces. The Disney Castle Residents ran over to congratulate the now Keyblade Masters, as they stood up from their seats. Donald and Goofy nearly knocked Sora over with a group hug. Mickey happily shook hands with Riku and Kairi and Max respectively pat the three on their backs.

"Thank you so much, Master Yen Sid," Kairi beamed as she bowed in respect. Yen Sid smiled.

"Think nothing of it, Master Kairi," he said, as soon as the congratulating was done, he called for attention, "Now, Sora, Riku, Kairi, it is traditional for Keyblade apprentices to receive a special kind of armour that allows them to travel from world to world. However, I no longer posses that kind of technology," the party shrugged in disappointment, "but, with what magic I posses, I have been able to create something similar. It won't last long enough for travel between worlds, but can be used somewhat like a drive form, like you have used, Sora," Sora remembered the forms he used to change into, when his clothes changed color and he'd gain extra powers and an extra Keyblade. Yen Sid waved his hands and three small glowing orbs with a silver symbol in the centre appeared in front of each teen. Riku and Kairi looked at them uneasily.

"You just grab them," Sora explained to his friends. The three of them grabbed the orbs at once and then were covered in a white glow. The Disney crew looked in awe. When the light died down, all three teenagers were dressed in detailed full suits of armor, similar to the design of the armored figures they had fought in the dream world. Sora's was colored black and navy blue with small touches of red and yellow, to match his clothes. The helmet matched perfectly and had "ears" that pointed upwards. Riku's was navy blue and yellow with touches of black and white, and appeared to look strong and durable. His helmet's ears also pointed upwards, but were wider than Sora's. Kairi's armour was far more feminine than the boys' and showed off her curves. It was pink and light purple with touches of black and white, while the ears of her helmet pointed downwards. The three teenagers looked down at themselves excitedly. Soon, they were covered in the white light again, as they changed back to their normal clothes.

"This armor will behave as a drive form," Yen Sid explained, "and you'll find it will have effect on your Keyblades as well. Use it well," the three teenagers nodded, "you will still have to use a gummi ship to travel, but I hope that this will still be of use to you,"

"Don't worry, Master Yen Sid," Mickey said, "I know that this'll sure come in handy, and I don't think we can thank ya enough," the group nodded in agreement. Yen Sid responded with a respectable nod.

"Now then, this is all I can do for you at this time," Yen Sid smiled, "I wish you luck, Master Mickey, Master Sora, Master Kairi, Master Riku, Donald, Goofy and Max," the group bowed in response and expressed their thanks as they ran back towards the gummi ship. Kairi was about to leave the room when thinking back to her exam made her pause. "Kairi?" Yen Sid stood up from his desk, "I sense something is troubling you, is there anything you wish to discuss?" Kairi released a sigh as she turned to face him.

"Master, who was the boy I had to fight? He just seemed so familiar, and he told me he was won't underestimate me next time. And, to be honest I'm scared."

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to tell you this, Kairi, but the boy you fought was Vanitas. He existed twelve years ago as a creature of pure darkness created by Master Xehanort," Yen Sid explained.

"Xehanort made him? But how is that even possible?" Kairi questioned.

"I cannot explain much about Vanitas seeing as how I do not know myself. All that I do know is that he once controlled a breed of creatures that feed off negativity known as the unversed, and he is somehow connected to another known as Ventus,"

"Ventus..." Kairi whispered, then realization finally hit her, "Mickey mentioned him in the letter! He's one of the people who are hurting and we need to save!" Yen Sid nodded,

"Yes, as far as I know Ventus has remained in an eternal sleep with his heart absent for nearly twelve years. When that happened his friend Aqua hid him somewhere she knew he would be safe, however she disappeared before she could tell us where that was."

"Then, what happened to Vanitas?"

"Ventus battled him inside his heart when Vanitas took over his body. Ventus won, but from what I have gathered, Ventus fighting and defeating Vanitas may have been the cause of his heart becoming dormant. I had always assumed that Vanitas was gone, but after watching and hearing what he had to say in the dream world, I can only think that there is a possibility that Vanitas will return." Kairi was about to say something else, when the door opened and Sora walked in,

"Kairi, are you planning on coming? Cuz Donald's just about ready to leave without you!" Sora stated,

"I know, I'll be there soon," Kairi replied as Sora left the room, and the princess turned back to Yen Sid,

"Kairi, I know that you are worried, but do not allow what Vanitas has said to you replay in your mind. He had a reputation of manipulating others and I do not want to see any of you getting hurt," Kairi nodded, before turning her back and moving towards the door, the princess of heart taking this all in as Yen Sid closed his eyes and explored his memories.

~*KHIII*~

Sometime later, the party was back on the gummi ship, traveling through space. Sora, Donald and Goofy were piloting the controls. Riku and Mickey were sitting on one couch while Max and Kairi were sitting on another. Kairi had just finished informing the others about what Yen Sid had told her about Vanitas.

"I remember him," Mickey said, snarling at the thought, "That fella was a real nasty piece of work!"

"So, your majesty, do we really need to be worried about this Vanitas guy coming back?" Sora asked.

"Whelp, I've never really given him much thought, but if Yen Sid's worried then the least we can do is be prepared," Mickey expained.

"We'll be okay! If Sora beat Sephiroth then Vanitas wil be no problem!" Donald quacked.

"Yep! We'll just all have ta stick together and help eachother!" Goofy added. Max nodded in agreement, but then looked over at Riku; ever since the exam ended, he had this distant look in his eyes, as if he was exploring his memories. He hadn't said a word about his opinion about Vanitas an clearly there was someone else on his mind. Finally, Max moved to ask the question he wanted to ask ever since he saw Riku have his confrontation with Ansem,

"Riku, who's West?" Max asked. At this sentence, everyone seemed to take an interest and Riku came back to the present. Riku sighed,

"She was someone I met when I was with Maleficent," Riku said simply.

"Did something happen to her?" Kairi asked with sympathy, "Riku, please tell us," Riku sighed, then continued,

"Maleficent told me that I could find Sora at a place called Traverse Town...

_A fifteen year old Riku wandered through the first district of Traverse Town. Several people had asked if he was lost, but rudely pushed them off. A moogle flew past him; that had to be the strangest thing he had seen so far. He was so memorized by the moogle that he didn't notice that he had run into someone. Riku looked in front of him to find a boy who couldn't be any older than then. He had wild dark brown hair that peeked out from under a backwards, red baseball cap, freckles, a green baggy jacket, white t-shirt, jeans and red sneakers._

_"Sorry," the kid said as he ran off towards the second district. Riku rolled his eyes at the boy, it was then that he noticed that his wallet was missing! Riku let out a small growl as he ran after the kid. He pushed open the doors to the second district, and heard voices._

_"TJ, you said you wouldn't steal anymore! What would Aerith say?" a feminine voice said. Riku looked over the edge and saw the boy he had run into talking to a girl around Sora and Kairi's age. Riku had to admit she was pretty cute. Her light brown hair was tied into two messy pigtails that reached past her shoulders. Her eyes were brown and her face was filled with freckles. She was dressed in a baggy green t-shirt, a grey shirt underneath, white kapris, white sneakers with yellow laces, and a grey hoodie was tied around her waist, while a yellow bandanna was around her neck._

_"She's not gonna find out!" the boy, TJ defended, "besides, we need the munny!" the girl crossed her arms._

_"Not unless I tell her," she smirked._

_"C'mon!" TJ whined. Riku jumped down from his hiding spot, startling the boy._

_"Give me back my munny, kid," Riku said. TJ hid behind the girl. She placed her hands on her hips._

_"TJ, give the nice boy his munny back," she said, TJ gave her a look that said "are you kidding me?" but, he stepped out from behind her and handed Riku back his wallet._

_"Sorry," TJ whispered as he toed the ground._

_"Thanks," Riku said._

_"You new around here?" the girl asked. Before Riku could answer, she leaned in extremely close to his face as if she were examining him, "never saw you before, what's your name?"_

_"Riku," he answered as he backed away from her._

_"Nice to meecha, Riku. I'm West and this is TJ," she said as she gave TJ a noogie.__"Do you need a place to stay?" before Riku could answer, she spoke again, "great, cuz we have lots of room, we stay in this house with a bunch of other kids, c'mon," she grabbed Riku's wrist and dragged him towards the direction of their house_.

They lead me to this flat that was next door to the Dalmatian's house. It was well-hidden which was probably a good thing because all the people there were young...

_"Hey everybody! We're back!" West yelled enthusiastically as she lead Riku and TJ inside then locked the door. The front room was an old, simple kitchen connected to a living room with a dark green couch, wooden coffee table and small TV with antennas. There were five people who turned to face them. a fifteen year old girl with long, briaded black hair with red eyes, wearing a dress that was decorated with several belts with a skirt that was open in the front, revealing black kapris and black dress shoes. Sitting at the kitchen table working on a blueprint was a twelve year old boy with stick-straight-up blond hair, blue eyes and round glasses. He was wearing a white t-shirt with a blue sweater vest and red shorts. Also sitting at the table was a fifteen year old boy with long, red hair tied in a ponytail wearing a cowboy hat and a long trench coat. Sitting on the couch in front of the TV were a sixteen year old red-haired girl in a black shirt and green cargo pants, and a thirteen year old blond boy with a strange black tattoo on one side of his face and a short-sleeved jacket decorated with blue flames on the sleeves. "This is Riku," West continued, "he lost his world too, so let's be nice to him!" The red-head girl got up from the couch and shook Riku's hand._

_"Nice to meet you, Riku, I'm Kim Possible," she said, "That's Lulu, Lewis, Irvine and Zell," each waved as their names were called. "You can bunk with Lewis tonight," she pointed to the boy with glasses. Riku turned to West._

_"So, are any of you related?" He asked._

_"Nope," West said in her perky fashion, "But we did all loose our homes to the heartless. Leon and the guys from the resistance check in on us every now and then, but we mostly take care of ourselves. So, I think we're like a family,"_

I only stayed with them for one night, but I learned a lot about them. West lost her home world when she was six, but completely lost her memories. Leon took her in and taught her everything she needed to know. She became a sneaky pickpocket and she was a little bit of a clutz, but only stole from people who tried to hurt her, she only ever used this small knife when she was fighting. Zell was a guy who was big into sports and only fought with his fists. Irvine was a bit of a flirt, but gave up on the girls he stayed with, and used a gun in battle. Lulu was a talented mage, and used a moogle plush to cast a variety of spells. She was very motherly to the younger ones. Kim used to be a teen hero in her home world, but still used her skills to take down the heartless. Lewis didn't fight that much; he was more of a tech guy. He was always trying to invent different things, kept me up most of the night. TJ was pretty tough for a kid, and usually came up with some pretty good plans.

The next day I went looking for Sora. I met up with you, Donald and Goofy, but then left. After Maleficent found me, West did too. Maleficent offered her the same position as me and she agreed. None of Maleficent's other allies seemed to trust her. I got into a ton of tough situations, but West would always be there. Whenever we went to their home world with them, they'd try to kill her. I always thought that it was because of her light. She did get on my nerves a lot with her perky attitude, and her clumsiness, but after awhile she stated to grow on me and I started to like her. It was only after Sora defeated me in Hollow Bastion did I understand...

_"What should I do?" Riku asked the hooded figure in the Castle Chapel of Hollow Bastion._

_"It's really quite simple; open yourself to the darkness. That is all," the figure said, "Let you heart, your being become darkness itself," Riku began to give off a green aura as the figure walked closer to him._

_"Riku!" the sound of West's voice broke Riku's trance. He turned and saw the girl standing in the centre of the room, being held captive by Maleficent, a sinister look on her face._

_"West?" Riku asked, he turned to Maleficent, "What are you doing to her?" Maleficent snickered._

_"You really haven't noticed, dear boy; this girl has been deceiving you the entire time. She's a part of the Heartless Resistance. She's a spy!" Maleficent looked down at the girl, "Now, tell me my dear, how much did you tell your friends back in Traverse Town? Who leads them?" West glared into Maleficent's cold gaze and spoke a single word;_

_"Never," Maleficent growled and struck West across the face with her staff, causing her to fall to the ground and leave a bleeding gash on her cheek._

_"West!" Riku shouted as he tried to run to her aid, but the cloaked man held him back as it possessed Riku's body. While Maleficent used a portal of darkness to send West to the dungeons._

There wasn't anything I could do once Ansem had a hold on me. But, the dungeons couldn't hold West for long. She broke free and came back to face Ansem...

_While the Ansem-possessed-Riku stood over Kairi's limp body, he heard footsteps coming his way. Even without turning around, he knew who it was._

_"Don't you ever give up, little girl?" Ansem spoke through Riku's body. He turned around to face West. She had a firey look in her brown eyes, her lips were pulled into a sneer and the gash on her cheek was still bleeding. She raised a small silver knife with a black handle and a long, yellow ribbon wrapped around the handle._

_"I'm only gonna say this once; give Riku back his body!" Ansem chuckled._

_"What makes you think you can do anything?" he asked, "do you think he likes you? You mean nothing to him," tears started to pour down West's face, but tried to stay strong, "all you are to him is a nuisance,"_

_"Shut it!" West shrieked as she charged towards Ansem. She tried to get close enough to him to stab him with her small knife, but he was too fast for her. Ansem raised the Keyblade of people's hearts and slashed at her several times. West quickly dodged the next attack and quickly swiped a potion from his back pocket. West quickly gulped down its contents before jumping back into battle. She tried to land in more attacks, but it was so hard for her to get a decent hit in. Ansem was winning and he knew it. West dodged behind him and tried to steal another potion from him, but this time, Ansem was ready. He grabbed a hold of her slim wrist and threw her right into the ground. West tried to get back up, but now she was bleeding heavily and it became harder to breathe. Ansem towered over her,_

_"What a pity. You could have been very useful to me, my dear," he smirked, "Then I suppose I have no choice, but to let the heartless take you!" another corridor of darkness appeared underneath West, and took her away from that world,_

The corridor of darkness took her to Kingdom Heats; where I was. We met up with Mickey and took down a bunch of heartless together. While I was trying to close the door, one of the Darksides pushed her into further darkness. Once the door was closed, I tried to help her; she was just barely hanging over the edge. But she was still weak after the fight with Ansem, she fell and I never saw her again," the party took a moment of silence after Riku's story.

"So, is West dead?" Sora asked.

"Welp, that's what we always thought, since we never heard from her after that," Mickey replied.

"She was still bleeding, there was no way she could have survived," Riku said sadly. But before anyone else could say anything, there was a few beeps and the view screen turned red; they had arrived at Twilight Town.

**PrismRain13: Wow that was a lot of flashbacks.**

**Riku: Is West dead?**

**PrismRain13: do you like her?**

**Riku: uhh...**

**PrismRain13: anyway, I hope you like West and she isn't a mary-sue. I'm completely open to world suggestions! So if you have any, tell me. Kim is originally from _Disney's Kim Possible_ (loved that show!), TJ is from _Disney's Recess_, Lewis is from _Disney's Meet the Robinsons_, Lulu is from _Final Fantasy X_ and Irvine and Zell are from _Final Fantasy VIII_. And MysteryGirl, I really appreciate your suggestion, but I'm trying to keep OC's down to a minimum, and I already have a love intrest planned for Riku. (Please don't hurt me Kyra!) But if you like I could still try and give her a small appearance, are you okay with that? This has been your friendly neighbourhood nerd, PrismRain13!**


	8. Hooded Strangers

**PrismRain13: Your friendly neighbourhood nerd here we are with the next chappie :)**

**Max: I'm looking forward to see what happens.**

**PrismRain13: Well, you'll just have to wait and see. And for anyone who's interested, Max is 14 in this story.**

**Max: I could have told them that, but okay. PrismRain13 doesn't claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy; those belong to their respective owners. She doesn't even own the theme song, **_**Final Distance**_**; that belongs to Utada Hikaru. She does own the plot and her OC's. By the way, thanks for bringing me into this story.**

**PrismRain13: No prob! If I owned KH, you would have been in a long time ago!**

_**Chapter 7: Hooded Strangers**_

On a distant world coated in darkness, a majestic silver castle towered over an endless dark abyss. This world was known as the World that Never was. It had changed considerably over one year. The Castle that was once inhabited by Organization XIII was now darker silver and all the nobody emblems were now replaced with heartless emblems. The buildings surrounding the castle were now more crumbled and most of the lights were dead, while the streets were crawling with heartless. Inside, a tall woman dressed in black robes and black horns on her head. Her skin had a green tint to it and she was holding a long staff with a dark green crystal on it while a black raven rested on her shoulder. She was sitting on an elegant dark silver throne in a white throne room that had two large windows behind her and a long dark red and black rug on the ground, while two figures were kneeling before her. This woman was known throughout the worlds as Maleficent; the witch who controlled the heartless. The two cowering before her were Pete and Mortimer.

"I am very disappointed in the both of you," Maleficent sneered, "I give you a simple task, and you can barely manage to capture three simple teenagers." Mortimer stood up.

"Well, Maleficent, babe they kinda outnumbered us,"

"That is no excuse. You had the heartless on your side and the dog's son at your mercy. I expect much better work done next time or there will be severe consequences," Maleficent growled as both her servants quivered in fear.

"Y-Yes ma'm ," Pete stammered. After Maleficent dismissed them, Pete looked out one of the many large windows and gazed deep in thought. He was thinking about his son, PJ, who was back at Disney Castle,

_Wonder what he'd think of his old man, _Pete thought, _would he even want ta see me again? Would he remember me?_ Pete reached into one of his many pockets and pulled out a small photo of a much happier version of himself holding a smiling two year old cat-like-child; his son. Pete managed a small smile as small tears trickled down his face. He hadn't seen his son in twelve years.

"Wacha doin' Pete, buddy?" a voice asked from behind him. Pete quickly wiped away his tears and shoved the picture into his pocket.

"Nothin'" Pete replied innocently. Mortimer raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He looked out the window himself, but only after a few minutes did something catch both of their attention. The streets were filled with heartless, as usual, but a figure cloaked in a dark grey hooded cloak was now running through the streets. The person was running past the heartless as if they were nothing. That or there was something else on the person's mind. "Who do ya think that is?" Pete asked. Mortimer raised his pistol.

"An intruder, that's what," Mortimer sneered, "ah-cha-cha,"

"An intruder?" Maleficent's voice questioned. A second later the witch appeared in a puff of dark green flames. Maleficent looked over her two servants, at the hooded figure. She seemed to notice something the other two didn't, "It can't be," she appeared to recognize something about the figure, "its impossible" Maleficent turned to Pete and Mortimer, "Go retrieve this person. I want her alive," Not wanting to get on Maleficent's nerves, the two ran off immediately.

~*KHIII*~

The hooded person ran through the streets, avoiding the heartless in any way they could. They didn't want the witch who now ruled this world to start getting suspicious. The hood covered the entire face, while the rest of the cloak covered the entire body, so it was impossible to see any individual features. The person paused beside the Memory's Skyscraper to catch their breath.

"There's gotta be a way off this place," The figure muttered in a feminine voice.

"Well, wasn't expectin' someone ta show up undedected," the figure turned to find Pete and Mortimer walking towards her, "Wonder how that happened," Mortimer smirked as he pointed his pistol at the person. The figure started slowly backing away,

"I had my experience in the Realm of Darkness," she said. But as she was backing up, she tripped over a stray piece of plywood. The figure let out a girly shriek as she clumsily fell to the ground.

"Humh. Not very graceful are ya?" Pete asked. She stuck out her tongue from under her hood. While not wanting to get into a fight at the moment, the figure simply jumped to her feet and ran down the streets. Pete and Mortimer ran after her. The figure moved as fast as her legs could carry her. Both of Maleficent's goons were quickly gaining on her, so she quickly turned a sharp corner into an alleyway. She hid herself as far as she could in the shadows, she could hear them coming.

_Man, I wish I wasn't alone right now_, the figure thought. Almost instantly, her wish seemed to be granted as a corridor of darkness opened and a tall hooded figure stepped out. This person was dressed in the signature black coat from Organization XIII. The hood was covering this person's face, so she couldn't see who it was. The figure held out a gloved hand to her.

"Come on," she assumed this person was a man in his mid-twenties from his voice, "I can help you," The girl backed up uneasily into the wall

"Why should I trust you? Who are you?" she snapped immaturely.

"I can't explain anything now. But if we stay long enough we're both toast, got it memorized?" The girl looked between the man and the shadows of Pete and Mortimer, who were getting closer. If you could see her face, you would have seen her roll her eyes.

"Okay, fine," she took the man's hand as they both escaped through the corridor of darkness just as Pete and Mortimer turned the corner.

~*KHIII*~

The dark corridor led them both to a world the man knew well. The girl looked up at the man,

"Thanks, why'd ya help me?" she asked. The man looked down at her.

"I dunno, I guess you looked like you needed help," the man replied. There was silence between the two, until the girl spoke again.

"So, do you know this place?"

"Yeah, I used to come here a lot, back when I lost my heart," The two of them were sitting on a tall clock tower, looking over a town bathed in twilight. They had arrived at Twilight Town, just as Sora and the others had.

**PrismRain13: dun, dun, DUNNNNNN! Yay! We're at Twilight Town :)**

**Max: Are we going to run into those mystery people.**

**PrismRain13: *smirk* maybe...**

**Max: grr... why do you always leave us hanging.**

**PrismRain13: it's fun and I was bored. Please review, it always makes my day! And, to InkheartWarrior; thanks a ton for your suggestions; I'll definitely put those into consideration :) I'm glad you're enjoying the story! And to MysteryGirl; I'll put definitely Rusty in the story along with Kyra (happy, Kyra? Now you have no reason to hurt me, right?) Does he wear any clothes or have any weapons to cast magic? Don't expect to see them for at least three chapters though; I have a pretty good idea where our heroes will meet them. I'm completely open to suggestions, so let me know!**


	9. Town of Twilight

**PrismRain13: Here we are at Twilight Town!**

**Olette: We get to see Kairi again?**

**PrismRain13: Yep and someone else you met ;)**

**Olette: Who?**

**PrismRain13: You'll see what I mean. Disclaimer, please?**

**Olette: Alright, my good friend Prism doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or anything else she decides to use. They belong to Disney and/or Square Enix. The theme song, **_**Final Distance**_** is owned by Utada Hikaru. The only thing Prism owns is the plot and her OC's.**

**PrismRain13: Aww, thanks Olette *Prism and Olette hug* This is why Hayner has a secret crush on you; you're so sweet!**

**Olette: He what?**

**PrismRain13: ...uhh ...I didn't say anything...**

_**Chapter 8: Town of Twilight**_

Things had been quiet in Twilight Town ever since the attacks from the heartless and nobodies stopped. In truth, life had been boring for Hayner, Pence and Olette. They hadn't heard much from Sora and the others except for the odd letter that seemed to appear at the beach whenever they went. The three of them were sitting in their usual spot, working on their summer homework. Well, Olette was working on the homework, Hayner was playing with a hacky sack and Pence was looking through the pictures he took. Summer vacation had just started, so neither of the boys felt any need to get started right away. Olette rolled her bright green eyes and blew a stray strand of dark brown hair out of her eyes.

"You know, you guys could help," Olette huffed.

"C'mon Olette, summer just started. Loosen up a little," Hayner said, continuing to play with his hacky sack.

"And then, you'll use the same excuse every time. And when school starts again, we won't have anything done!" Olette snapped causing both boys to jump a little.

"Do you know what I think?" Pence asked, the two turned to look at him, "I think we should try and find out where the other Twilight town leads to," Hayner and Olette just stared at him, "Well, in his letters, Sora never did mention what he found, so I think we should check it out,"

"What about our homework?" Olette asked.

"Relax, we'll do it later," Hayner said as he walked past Olette, "Let's go," he walked out of the secret place, Pence following close behind. Olette rolled her eyes.

"Boys," she sighed as she ran after them.

_**Twilight Town**_

The trio began to walk through the sandlot to get to the mansion, until they were stopped by a voice.

"Where do you think you lamers are going?" The three turned around to find themselves face to face with the Twilight Town Disciplinary Committee. The seventeen-year-old young man in front of the group was dressed in a long, sleeveless coat, blue shirt, sweat pants, black tuque and a scar running across his face. This was Seifer. The three other people behind him were Rai, Fuu and Vivi.

"None of your business, Seifer," Hayner retorted.

"Want to say that again, blondie?" Seifer snapped. Vivi shivered a little.

"If you big babies must know, we're going to the mansion," Olette remarked, coming to Hayner's aid. Seifer's gang seemed a little shocked by Olette's comment.

"Ohh, she's got ya there Seifer, ya know," Rai said

"Tough," Fuu commented. Seifer stood over Olette, a dangerous look in his eyes.

"You better watch your mouth, girlie, or there's gonna be serious consequences," Seifer growled.

"You can't talk to her or any of us like that!" Hayner snapped.

"Yeah," Pence agreed, "We live here just as much as you do," Seifer looked just about ready to go off, until he heard a voice from behind them; a voice he hadn't heard in almost a year.

"You never change? Do you, Seifer?" The two groups turned to find Sora, Riku, Kairi, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Max. It was Sora who had spoken.

"Sora?" Hayner, Pence and Olette exclaimed with wide smiles on their faces. They ran past the Disciplinary Committee to reunite with the heroes. Sora and Hayner fist pumped Kairi and Olette hugged and Pence, Donald, Goofy and the King shook hands. Sora quickly introduced Riku and Max to the Twilight kids.

"So how have ya been?" Goofy asked.

"We were just on our way to check out the mansion, since you never told us what you found," Pence replied. Sora toed the ground in an embarrassing manner. While Mickey moved on to explain about the portal, Betwixt and Between, Axel's sacrifice and their defeat of Organization XIII. The whole time they were talking, Seifer and his gang were just standing there. Seifer was busy staring at Kairi. She had to be the hottest girl he had ever seen. He walked away from his group, bushed his way between Hayner and Pence, and placed a strong arm around Kairi's shoulders. (1)

"Hey, beautiful," Seifer said in a romantic tone, "What's a cute thing like you doing with a bunch of these weirdos?" Kairi raised an eyebrow, while Sora looked like he wanted to punch Seifer in the face, "Why don't we ditch these losers, and hang out at my place; just you and me," Kairi simply summoned Destiny's Embrace and pointed it at Seifer's chest.

"I will use this," she sneered (2). Seifer raised his hands in defence and slowly backed away.

"Anyway," Riku said, "have any of you guys seen anything suspicious around here?" the three Twilight kids shook their heads.

"No, everything's been pretty peaceful," Olette replied. Vivi shifted uncomfortably and stepped forward.

"Well," he said, "When I was walking back from the station, I saw this weird black hole at the of the top of the tower, then two strange people came out of it,"

"How strange, ya know?" Rai asked, suddenly taking an interest. Even Fuu and Seifer seemed interested.

"Well they were both wearing long hooded cloaks, so I couldn't see their faces. The shorter one was wearing a dark grey cloak, and the tall one was wearing the same cloak as those guys who brought the white monsters here," Vivi explained. At this, everyone's head snapped in attention.

"The Organization?" Donald quacked, "But we got rid of em',"

"It could be an imposter," Pence suggested, "Maybe we should check it out,"

"But I don't know if they're still there," Vivi said.

"Well, it still doesn't hurt to check it out," Max suggested, "Maybe they left some clues,"

"Yeah, let's go," Sora said as he led his party and the Twilight kids to the station.

"Hold it," Seifer snapped, as he and his gang walked over to Sora, "We're coming too,"

"Why do you care?" Hayner asked. Seifer didn't bother to look at him.

"This is my town, and if outsiders show up causing problems, I'm gonna kick them into next year," Seifer explained. Sora sighed,

"Well, then, if you're coming, then let's go," Riku said to Seifer. The group of fourteen began to walk over to the station.

~*KHIII*~

Sometime later, the party had reached the station. Vivi ran ahead and pointed up to the clock tower.

"I saw them up there," Vivi said.

"Now?" Fuu asked. Mickey squinted.

"I can't see, the tower's too tall," he said.

"How long ago did you see them?" Kairi asked. But, before Vivi could reply, the group was soon surrounded by at least fifty heartless; shadows, soldiers, large bodies and neoshadows. Sora's party quickly drew their weapons, while the Twilight Town residents hurried to find weapons. Hayner, Seifer and Vivi picked up some stray struggle bats, Olette picked up a long piece of wood, Pence picked up a garbage can lid, Rai picked up a broken piece of a pipe and Fuu picked up a star-shaped piece of wood. Then, they charged into battle. Sora moved behind a large body and hit it multiple times with Kingdom Key. Kairi slashed a few shadows that were about to attack Vivi. Mickey and Riku stood back to back and slashed at a few soldiers. Goofy dodged an attack from a neoshadow, and then threw his shield at it. Donald hit a large body with a blizzard spell; keeping it distracted while Fuu and Rai finished it off. Hayner quickly hit a shadow that was about to attack Olette. Olette tried to hit a large body, but fell into Hayner's arms. Seifer slashed through a few neoshadows, while Max rode his skateboard through a few shadows. As soon as they had finished off the heartless, more showed up. Most of the group passed out from exhaustion, while the remaining tiredly raised their weapons. But before the heartless or the heroes could move, two cloaked figures jumped down from the clock tower. As soon as they landed, the tall man in black raised his hands and in a swirl of orange-red flames two red and silver chackrams appeared in his hands, while the girl in grey reached into the pocket and pulled out a small silver knife with a black handle and a yellow ribbon wrapped around the handle. The man slashed at the heartless and burned them with fire attacks, while the girl jumped up into the air and slashed at the heartless. As soon as the heartless were gone the party stood to their feet and stared at the two new warriors.

"Are you guys, okay?" the girl in grey asked. Riku took notice of the familiar weapons, and moved towards the girl, and removed her hood. Riku nearly fainted. Her messy light brown hair was tied into two low pigtails that reached down to her waist. Her eyes were brown and her face was filled with freckles. She looked a little older, but it was still her.

"West?" Riku asked in shock. The people who knew about West gasped.

"Yep," West beamed. As she leaned in close to his face and beamed, "you cut your hair," The man pulled down his hood to reveal long spiky red hair and green eyes.

"Axel?" Sora asked.

"Well, I guess I can't really be called that now, since I got my heart back," Axel smiled.

**PrismRain13: OMG! West and Axel are alive! 8O**

**Olette: How's that possible?**

**PrismRain13: NOT TELLING!**

**Olette: don't forget to review! It makes Prism happy!**

**(1): In the manga, Seifer has a huge crush on Kairi, so I thought I'd reference it.**

**(2): Quote from Disney's Tangled (I LOVE that movie!)**


	10. Pasts Explained

**PrismRain13: 30 reviews? I LOVE YOU GUYS!**

**Seifer: geez, it's nothing to get excited about.**

**PrismRain13: YES IT IS! **

**Seifer: Why'd you have Kairi threaten me last chapter? Ohh... she's playing hard-to-get right?*smirk*.**

**PrismRain13: *cough* Heck no! *cough***

**Seifer: grr... PrismRain13 doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or anything else she decides to use. She doesn't own **_**Final Distance**_**; the theme song either. They belong to their respective owners. The only thing Prism does own is the plot and her OC's.**

_**Chapter 9: Pasts Explained**_

Sometime later, Sora, his group, the Twilight Town residents, West and Axel were sitting in the Usual Spot. With sixteen people in one small space, it was a little crowded. Sora, Mickey and Hayner were sitting at the front. Olette, Kairi, West and Riku were sitting on the couch, Seifer, his gang and Lea were leaning up against the wall, Vivi, Donald and Max were sitting on the ground, and Pence and Goofy were sitting on a small chair. West and Axel were still wearing their cloaks. Mickey stood up.

"Welp, I think we need to start off with explanations," He turned to West and Axel, "Who wants to go first?" West raised her hand in the air enthusiastically.

"What did happen to you? How come we haven't heard from you in two years?" Riku asked.

"Did you miss me?" West asked him as Riku blushed.

"I thought you were dead! Start talking!" he responded. West rolled her eyes.

"Well, I can't explain much since I don't remember a ton of it," she explained, "I remember falling into darkness after I let go of your hand," she said to Riku, "After awhile, the darkness was forcing me to fall asleep. When I woke up I was a whole lot further in the Relm of Darkness, lying on this cold, grey ground. My cuts were completely healed and I was wearing this cloak. There was darkness and heartless everywhere. I wandered around for what felt like a few hours, but really it was a year and a half. I was fighting the heartless all the time. The last moment I was there, I was watching this lady fight off the heartless with a Keyblade."

"Wait! She didn't have blue hair, did she?" Mickey interrupted.

"Yeah, why?" West asked.

"Because that might have been a friend of mine; Aqua! I haven't heard from her in twelve years!" Mickey replied; hope starting to come to him.

"Anyway," West continued, "I was about to go talk to her, but before I could, a corridor of darkness appeared underneath my feet and I disappeared. The portal took me outside this huge silver castle. The place was crawling with heartless too, so I hid out in this place called Memory's Skyscraper. I managed to stay hidden from the heartless for the months that I was there. I knew that Maleficent had taken over that world and if she saw me I'd be in trouble,"

"Maleficent took over the World that Never was?" Goofy asked.

"Yep," West replied.

"How'd you know she was there?"

"I overheard these two guys who I was guessing were her minions, one was really tubby and the other was tall and skinny."

"Pete and Mortimer," Sora realized, "So, why would you be in trouble if Maleficent knew you were there?"

"Well, judging from the way she acted towards me the last time we met; I think it's safe to assume I'm on her most-wanted list," West explained, "Well, I was eavesdropping on Maleficent's two goons again and they were talking about how Maleficent wasn't going to be happy about them failing her again. One of them mentioned you guys, so I decided it was as good a time as any to get out of that place," West turned to Axel, "your turn, fire-head." Axel ran a gloved hand through his hair and spoke.

"Well, I guess I'm not the Axel you guys know, because my nobody's gone. I always thought that once both the heartless and the nobody were defeated, there was no hope of the original person would ever come back. But that was wrong. Apparently, the heartless holds the person's heart captive and once it's been destroyed, the heart's been set free. And when the nobody's been killed, the body comes back. So basically, once they're both gone, the original person comes back!"

"Woah, wait a minute," Kairi interrupted, "If that's true, then, does that mean the entire Organization will come back as Somebody's?" Axel nodded.

"Aw man," Sora groaned, "Now we have to beat them all over again. Once was enough!"

"Well, most of them only wanted their hearts back, so I wouldn't worry about them too much. The only ones I would worry about are the ones that want you guys dead," Axel explained.

"That's a happy thought..." Donald quacked under his breath.

"Anyway, after my nobody sacrificed himself, I woke up in Kingdom hearts only I was glowing this golden color. I saw something pink, sparkling and glowing flying towards me in the distance. As it got closer, I saw it was a heart; my heart. It stopped right in front of me and flew inside me. The glow disappeared from my body and I could feel my heartbeat, but I still had all the memories from both my nobody and my original person. And I could still use the abilities my nobody could. So, I created a corridor of darkness to get me out of there, which led me to West at the World that Never Was. Then, I took her with me here." The group stayed in silence for awhile after Axel finished his story.

"Wow, so I guess we shouldn't really be calling you 'Axel' now," Sora said, "What was your original name?"

"It's Lea," Axel replied. Seifer couldn't help but hide a snicker behind his hand, muttering something like 'that's a girl's name'. Lea shot him a dirty look but that didn't stop Seifer from smirking. Mickey rolled his eyes before speaking up again.

"Well West, Lea, we're going to set off again soon, and you're welcome to join us," Mickey said.

"Really? Thanks, your majesty!" West beamed enthusiastically as she lifted Mickey up and hugged him tightly.

"Sure, I'm in," Lea smiled. Seifer rolled his eyes.

"Terrific, now there are even more losers," Seifer groaned. West set Mickey down gently, stomped over to Seifer and shoved her face in his.

"You better watch your mouth you meanie, or you're gonna-" but before West could finish, there was a loud bang as the Usual Spot shook. West landed on top of Seifer as he and everyone else fell to the ground. Olette landed in Hayner's arms, Goofy landed on top of Mickey and Donald and Riku fell near Sora and Kairi.

"What's that?" Vivi asked as he used his hat to hide.

"Sounds like it came from the sandlot," Pence replied.

"Quick, let's get down there!" Sora exclaimed as he jumped to his feet. Everyone else quickly followed his example and ran to the sandlot.

~*KHIII*~

Once the party of sixteen reached their destination, what they saw scared them half to death. A huge Guard Armour heartless was attacking the townsfolk with its appendages, trying to take their hearts and slamming into nearby buildings at the same time!

"Come on! Let's go!" Riku shouted as he raised Way to Dawn. But, before he could do anything, the heatless swung its arm towards him and knocked him to the ground a fair distance away.

"Riku!" West screamed in fear as someone chuckled darkly. The group of sixteen looked up behind the heartless and saw Pete and Mortimer standing on top of one of the many buildings at a safe distance, but could still see the battle that was about to progress.

"Well, ain't this interesting," Mortimer smirked as he turned to West, "Been a long time hadn't it, freckles? Ah-cha-cha," West glared at him.

"Mortimer? And I was hoping for someone interesting," she growled as she took out her knife,

"Well, it's been nice knowin' you kiddies, but I think it's time for ya ta go," Pete said as he snapped his fingers. As he did a glowing, translucent barrier appeared around the heartless, Sora, West, Lea, Max, Hayner and Seifer; leaving the rest of the group to watch helplessly. The six who were trapped inside quickly drew their weapons. West turned to Lea as they both nodded. They both ripped off their cloaks to reveal new clothing that was much better suited for combat. Lea was dressed in a black muscle shirt, a red sleeveless coat that went down to his knees, black gloves, black jeans that were tucked into loose dark red ankle boots with yellow laces, on his left pant leg was red and orange-printed flames and a silver chain was on his hip and an orange wristband was on his left wrist.

West was wearing a green short-sleeved hooded t-shirt with black lining and black pull strings that revealed a portion of her midriff. A yellow bandana was tied around her left wrist, while a baggy elbow-length glove was on her right arm; most of it was white except for the fingers and a band close to the elbow, which was black. Around her neck was a short black necklace with a small white rock. Her tan-coloured pants reached just before her knees and had a bow on each leg at the end, a brown pocket was buckled onto her right hip and on her feet were brown zip-up hiking boots with green lining.

Seifer ran at the Guard armour and hit at its leg several times with his Struggle bat, while Hayner did the same with the other leg. Neither one of the boys were able to do much except get on the heartless's nerves. It was about so slash at them with its claws, but Sora quickly hit its arms before it could damage either of them. Lea stayed at a safe distance while he threw his chackrams at the Guard Armour's torso. Max was quickly dodging attacks from the claws and managed to scratch at its arms with his skateboard. West was trying to climb up the heartless to get to its head. So far, she had gone unnoticed, but just as she was about to stab its head with her knife, the Guard Armour grabbed her and threw her into Seifer, the force knocked both of them a few feet away. Hayner and Max ran over to help them up, but after Hayner pulled West to her feet, she ran into battle again. Seifer looked like he was just about ready to pass out from the pain he was in. West had quickly grabbed something from the Guard armour; luckily it was distracted by Sora and Lea. As soon as West had grabbed what she was looking for, she ran back to Seifer, Hayner and Max. They saw that she had stolen three potions from the heartless; West tossed them to the three boys who quickly drank its contents as their wounds healed, then the four of them ran back into the fray. Lea and Sora jumped out of the way of another of the heartless's many attacks, until the four other warriors joined them.

"Where the heck is this thing's weak spot?" Hayner asked.

"I don't know, but this thing is really starting to bug me!" Lea growled.

"Hey, Sora," Max said, "Maybe now's a good time to use that thing Master Yen Sid gave you," Sora nodded.

"Everyone, stay back!" Sora shouted as everyone complied, "Mark of Mastery!" he shouted as he began to glow white. When the light died down, Sora was fully dressed in black, blue, yellow and red armour. He threw Kingdom Key into the sky as it transformed into a yellow and silver Keyblade Glider. Sora jumped onto it, and flew towards his target. The Guard Armour was having a hard time keeping up with the flying Keyblade Master. Sora was using his Keyblade Glider to slash at the higher levels of the heartless, and even managed to take out both of its arms in a few swipes. He flew a good distance away from it, and then charged at the heartless with an intense amount of speed. As Sora hit the Guard Armour, it flew into a million pieces as it disappeared, and a freed glowing heart flew into the sky and the barrier vanished. Sora jumped back to the ground as his armour disappeared and his Keyblade returned to normal. Kairi and the others who were unable to help ran over and congratulated the six, While Pete and Mortimer quietly left.

"That was amazing!" Kairi exclaimed as she caught Sora in a tight embrace. Riku walked over to West, who almost knocked him to the ground in an attack-hug.

"Don't scare me like that!" West told him.

"Look who's talking," Riku laughed as he returned the hug. Olette and Pence congratulated Hayner, while Seifer's group checked if he was okay and Goofy tightly hugged Max. Seifer walked over to Hayner and held out his hand,

"Thanks," was all he said, but it was good enough for Hayner, who took his hand.

"No problem," Hayner replied. Suddenly, Hayner's Struggle bat began to glow as it flew into the sky. Sora took his Keyblade, because he knew what was happening. The tip of Kingdom Key began to glow as a glowing crown emblem appeared underneath his feet. A beam of light shot out from the struggle bat as it formed a keyhole, Sora pointed his Keyblade at the keyhole as he unlocked a new gate. Seifer stepped towards him.

"Guess you're leaving now?" he asked. Sora nodded,

"Don't worry, we'll be back," he turned to the Twilight Town residents, "If you see anything suspicious, or there's something you can't handle, let us know!" the Twilight residents nodded their understanding.

"And no more fighting!" Donald added. Sora looked over at Riku and West, who were still hugging, Sora smirked.

"Are you guys coming or what?" he asked. Riku and West blushed as they both stepped away from eachother.

"Yep! I'm coming!" West exclaimed, as Lea nodded. The traveling party of nine exchanged goodbyes with the Twilight Town kids then got back on the gummi ship.

**PrismRain13: Another chappie done! See if you can guess what world's next!**

**Seifer: Can't believe you had me thank that loser...**

**PrismRain13: Get over it Seifer!**

**Seifer: Fine, I'll let it go this time, just because you're hot.**

**PrismRain13: Yeah, sure. Wait, what? *moves away from Seifer* MysteryGirl, expect to see Kyra and Rusty next chapter. KingdomHeartsFreak, STAY AWAY FROM PIRATES! Inkheartwarrior, I hope my explanations made sense. This has been your friendly neighbourhood nerd, PrismRain13!**

**Seifer: *puts arm around Prism's shoulders* So, Prism, if you're not doing anything, maybe we could go out. By the way, I know you're not doing anything; I read your datebook.**

**PrismRain13: ...hate you right now. *Seifer drags Prism out the door to go on date* HELP ME!**


	11. Garden of Radiance

**PrismRain13: Prism here with a new chappie!**

**Hayner: You didn't tell Olette about the crush I have on her, did you?**

**PrismRain13: maybe...**

**Hayner: ... Prism doesn't claim ownership of KH, FF or **_**Final Distance**_**. The only things she owns are the plot and her OC's like West, Sky and Divum (Sora's parents)!**

**PrismRain13: Plus, Kyra and Rusty are owned by MysteryGirl.**

**Hayner: Who?**

**PrismRain13: you'll see *smirk*.**

_**Chapter 10: Garden of Radiance**_

Maleficent, Pete and Mortimer gazed over a small stone table that was showing her the interior of the gummi ship the party of nine was travelling in. But, what really caught her attention, were the two beings she thought to be long gone. The witch turned to her two servants.

"I see, so that little thief is alive after all," she said, looking at the projection of West, who was sitting in between Riku and Max, "And if that Red-head is back, then that can only mean that it is only a matter of time before the rest of that retched Organization reveals themselves,"

"Well, see that ain't all we got ta tell ya," Pete said, "We found another guy that was from that there Organization, only he got his heart back,"

"I see," Maleficent said softly, "And, why have you brought him to me?

"Well, toots, I thought," Mortimer said as he stepped in front of Pete, "If we got together all the guys who want to beat up those brats, including the Organization, talking over the worlds would be a piece of cake!" Maleficent nodded,

"Very well then, let me see him," The large white doors opened and a tall man dressed in a black Organization XIII coat walked into the room, a sneer present on his lips.

~*KHIII*~

_**"Radiant Garden"**_

Meanwhile, the group of nine were coming in for a landing on a world they all knew. They walked out into a small shopping plaza that was surrounded by a few small fountains and buckets flowers. Several people and a few moogles were walking around minding their own business, with happy, peaceful looks on their faces. While a tall, beautiful castle was visible in the distance. Hollow Bastion, now known as Radiant Garden had been completely restored to its former glory.

"This is Hollow Bastion?" Riku asked, remembering what it was like when Maleficent had taken it over, "It looks a lot better, now."

"Heck yeah!" West beamed as she ran towards the shopping plaza,

"Wow, it's great to be back," Lea smiled as he and the rest of the party followed the enthusiastic thief.

"You've been here before?" Sora asked.

"Yeah, this was my home world," he replied, "I haven't been here since it was destroyed," by the time the rest of the party had caught up with West, she was standing at a weapons stall that had several daggers, armour, swords and shields for sale, the person running the stall had their feet propped up on the table and was reading a newspaper while a fox wearing a color with an acorn charm on it was asleep on the same table on top of a red pillow. West had dragged Donald over and placed a metal hat with spikes on his head.

"How do I look?" Donald asked. (1)

"You better pay for that," a grouchy female voice said from behind the newspaper. The person placed the newspaper down to reveal a girl around eighteen years old. She was dressed in a dark red cloak that went down to her knees, black boots that reached mid-calf, coffee coloured jeans, an indigo, puffy, long sleeved shirt, and a small, sun-shaped necklace. She also had long, black hair with one red highlight at the side of her face and amethyst eyes and a smile that despite the annoyed scowl on her lips, seemed to shine with radiance. West's eyes widened at the sight of her. (2)

"Kyra?" she asked. The girl looked over at West at the sound of her name, and her eyes widened.

"West?" she asked as she stood up from her seat and athletically jumped over the table. West leaned in close to Kyra's face with a huge smile on her face.

"Wow! Long time no see!" West beamed.

"Apparently, not long enough," Kyra grumbled, "where have you been?"

"You guys know each other?" Mickey asked.

"We met when I lost my world," Kyra explained, "I ended up in Traverse Town when I was ten. Aerith and the others asked if I needed a place to stay and explained they needed someone to help look out for trouble-maker over here," Kyra pointed to West as she pouted, "I told them I needed to find my brothers and my parents, so I turned them down. I got a gummi ship and have been traveling the worlds ever since. I'd stop in at Traverse Town occasionally for a few days to rest and get supplies, but every time I came I was always stuck babysitting West," West crossed her arms, obviously not pleased with the way Kyra interpreted her as a child.

"So, what are you doing here, now?" Goofy asked.

"I heard that this place had been completely restored, and I needed some extra munny, plus Leon and the gang needed some help, so why not?" the ten of them remained silent for a moment before Donald broke the silence, by moving over to touch the fox that was on the red pillow.

"How much is this stuffed fox? I need a present for..." Donald was about to touch the fox, when it sprang to life, growled at him with his teeth barred. Donald quaked in fear and jumped into Goofy's arms, who was so surprised from both Donald's reaction and the fox that he fell into Lea, who bumped into Max as all four of them fell to the ground. The fox was about to charge at them, when Kyra picked him up.

"Rusty, no!" Kyra exclaimed as she picked the fox up and started stroking him.

"What's the matter with that thing?" Donald quacked. Rusty the fox growled at Donald as the duck hid behind Mickey.

"So, where are Leon and the others?" Sora asked.

"Why don't you ask me?" A perky voice asked from behind them. The group turned around to find an eighteen year old girl with short black hair with a long black and white head band, a black and blue strapless top that revealed her midriff and had a yellow belt holding it up, orange denim shorts, yellow belt and yellow pouch, a dark grey wrist band was around her left wrist, a dark blue fingerless glove on her right forearm, thigh-high white socks and black and grey knee-high boots. (3)

"Yuffie!" Sora smiled at the sight of the ninja, as she caught Sora in a sisterly hug. After Sora wriggled out of her grasp, he moved to introduce his friends to her. "This is Riku, Kairi, Lea, Max, and West," at the sound of the final name, Yuffie looked beside Riku, and sure enough; the girl she and the others thought to be dead was standing there alive and happy.

"West?" Yuffie asked as the freckle-faced girl nodded, suddenly Yuffie's smile returned wider and caught West in a bone-crushing hug, "WOW! THIS IS AMAZING! JUST WAIT TILL EVERYONE HEARS YOU'RE OK! LEON'S BEEN WORRIED A TON ABOUT YOU!"

"Yuffie... can't... breathe...," West barely managed to coke out. Yuffie smiled as she let go of West.

"Well, it's great you're okay, cuz now the whole team's back together!" At this, West's head instantly perked up.

"You mean Kim, TJ, Zell and the others are here?" she asked hopefully. Yuffie nodded.

"But didn't their worlds come back when Sora defeated Ansem?" Kairi asked.

"Don't worry, they did," Yuffie replied with a laugh, "Leon just went checking up on the worlds a little while ago, and came across them. When he told them about the heartless and nobodies rising up again, they all practically begged to come. Anyway, we set up shop at the castle, c'mon!" and with that, Yuffie bounced away towards the direction of the castle. Sora was about to follow when he noticed Kyra and Rusty were walking the opposite direction. Kyra seemed to read Sora's mind when she told him;

"Go on ahead, I still have to finish my shift anyway," she smiled. Sora nodded his understanding as he and his party followed the bouncing ninja.

~*KHIII*~

A little while later, the party had arrived inside the beautiful, clean castle of Radiant Garden; it was as if Maleficent hadn't been there at all! Yuffie led the group up elegant silver stairs, to a violet door. Yuffie opened it to reveal a large computer room with stone walls, a wooden table with a yellow and purple tablecloth, a grey couch and violet carpet. There were the familiar faces of Leon, Aerith, Tifa and Cid and then there were six other people that Sora didn't recognize. Standing beside Leon was a woman with long dark hair dressed in a long, blue sleeveless robe, leaned up against the wall was a muscular, blond man with a black bandana on his head and dressed in a tan trench coat. Sitting at the table were four more people; eighteen year old red-haired girl dressed in a dark purple t-shirt. Black pants and black gloves, a seventeen year old boy with red hair tied into a ponytail and wearing a cowboy hat, a black-haired seventeen year old girl in a dress decorated with multiple black and dark grey belts and a fifteen year old blond boy with a strange tattoo on one side of his face.

"Hey guys! Guess who just showed up!' Yuffie exclaimed as she led Sora and his party in.

"Sora, Donald, Goofy!" Aerith exclaimed as she moved to hug the three.

"Great to see ya!" Cid said from his position on the computer, Tifa waved at them and Leon smiled.

"So, who are your friends?" Leon asked.

"This is Riku, Kairi, Max, Lea and I guess you already know West," just like Yuffie had, Leon, Aerith, Cid and the four people at the table instantly perked up at the sound of West's name. West stepped forward and waved.

"Hi," she smiled, the four people who were sitting at the table instantly jumped up and embraced West in a family-style group hug, while Cid, Leon and Aerith stared in shock.

"Do you have any idea how worried we've been about you?" the red-haired girl asked.

"Where were you?" the blond tattoo faced boy asked.

"We thought you were dead!" the goth girl exclaimed.

"Why didn't you tell us you were okay?" the boy in the cowboy hat said.

"Great to see you too, guys, but you're squashing me," West breathed.

"Yeah, and soon you're going to get even more squashed, missy," Cid snapped.

"You better start explaining," Leon added, before Aerith turned to him.

"Does it really matter?" she asked, "West's okay, that's all that matters. And I think introductions are in order," The two people that hadn't spoken yet moved to introduce themselves.

"Nice to meet you all, I'm Rinoa," the woman beside Leon said kindly, "Squall's told me a lot about you all,"

"Squall?" Donald asked as he tried to hide a laugh.

"That's my real name," Leon explained, "I changed it because I was ashamed of myself for letting the heartless take my home,"

"Squall Leonhart?" Lea asked as he finally realized who he was talking to, and so did Leon, Aerith, Cid, Yuffie and Tifa.

"Lea?" Tifa asked, "Is that you?" Lea rubbed the back of his neck,

"Yeah, it's me," he shrugged. The man leaned up against the wall saved Lea from any more awkwardness by introducing himself,

"Name's Snow," he said enthusiastically, "herd you guys are huge heroes, something I'm kind of an expert in," Leon rolled his eyes as West moved to introduce the people who had hugged her,

"This is Kim, Zell, Lulu and Irvine, we used to live together in Traverse Town; by the way, where's Lewis and TJ?" she said.

"They're off to get supplies," Lulu explained, "they should be back soon so don't worry," it was then that the group of four took notice of Riku, "Oh, look, it's Maleficent's lapdog," Lulu groaned. Kim crossed her arms and glared at him, Irvine avoided eye contact, and Zell waved enthusiastically.

"Nice to see you too Lulu," Riku said sarcastically, "And for your information, I left."

"Yeah, we're still missing some people," Zell explained, "Merlin's off doing magic stuff, Vincent's checking the heartless situation at the bailey, the Gullwings are training and Phineas and Ferb are... where are they?" Just as he said that a loud, ear-defining explosion was heard as the room shook violently, a little while later, two boys walked into the room coughing; one had messy red hair and was dressed in an orange and white t-shirt and blue shorts, while the other one had green hair and was wearing a white shirt and purple pants. (4)

"Sorry, Cid I think we blew up the gummi lab... again," the red-head explained as Cid groaned.

"I keep telling you boys; STAY AWAY FROM THE DINAMITE!" the two boys toed the ground nervously just as they noticed the newcomers.

"Hi! I'm Phineas, and this is my brother, Ferb," the red-head explained as the green-haired boy just waved.

"Aren't you guys a little young to be working on gummi ships?" Kairi asked.

"Why yes, yes we are," Phineas smiled.

"Cut the chit-chat boys, and clean up that mess in the lab!" Cid yelled as the two boys quickly ran off before Cid could get any crankier. Just then, the door burst open and a boy with spiky blond hair and glasses that looked to be around fourteen ran into the room and collapsed on the floor, out of breath, Irvine quickly ran over to help him up.

"Lewis? Bro, what's wrong?" Irvine asked as the boy muttered something, but because he was breathing heavily, it was hard to understand what he was saying, "Calm down, where's TJ?"

"...man ...black coat ...tried to stop ...grabbed TJ ..." Lewis panted as Irvine and Kim quickly sat him down on the couch. As what Lewis tried to say sunk in, they knew what had happened; someone from Organization XIII had kidnapped TJ.

**PrismRain13: OH NOES! WHO DID IT?**

**Hayner: you can tell me; I can keep a secret.**

**PrismRain13: NO!**

**Hayner: what's with all the cliff hangers?**

**PrismRain13: It makes it interesting! Anyway, see if you can guess who the guy from the org is; hint: he was in BBS! Rinoa is from **_**Final Fantasy VIII**_**, Vincent is from **_**Final Fantasy **_**VII, Snow is from **_**Final Fantasy XIII **_**(what do people have against this game? I like it!) and Phineas and Ferb are from Disney's **_**Phineas and Ferb**_** (honestly, the only good part about the new Disney channel). Hope you like this chappie and please leave a review! This has been your friendly neighbourhood nerd, Prism.**

**Hayner: please tell me they're going back to Twilight Town!**

**PrismRain13: ...okay, they're going back to Twilight Town.**

**Hayner: really?**

**PrismRain13: maybe...**

**(1): reference to the KH2 manga.**

**(2): MysteryGirl, I hope you don't mind that I made Kyra older, but since West is 16 here and I pictured her as an annoyed older sister, it just felt right. And we are going to see them again.**

**(3): for visual aid; Yuffie's wearing her clothes from **_**Dirge of Cerberus.**_

**(4): Inkheartwarrior, I was planning on putting them in anyway, but I'm glad someone tunes into Disney Channel besides me :)**


	12. Rescue Mission

**PrismRain13: Well, I just got back from my first week of school. So, don't expect me to update as often as I have; probably once a week.**

**Goofy: Gawrsh, is TJ okay?**

**PrismRain13: Don't worry, he's a tough kid, he can take care of himself. Disclaimer please?**

**Goofy: Prism here doesn't own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy; those belong to Square Enix and/or Disney. **_**Final Distance**_**, the theme song is owned by Utada Hikaru. The only thing she owns is the plot and her OC's, A-Huck!**

_**Chapter 11: Rescue Mission**_

"Did you see where he took TJ?" Lulu asked the still-exhausted Lewis who was lying on the couch. The group he had stayed with in Traverse Town was standing around him both worried about the youngest member of their family and trying to comfort Lewis from the shock.

"No, he had the hood covering his face the whole time," Lewis replied, "he said to tell the Keyblade Masters that if they don't want an innocent kid to get hurt, then meet him in the outer gardens," Sora turned to Leon,

"What should we do?" he asked. But, before Leon could reply, Snow spoke up,

"We go down there and beat that guy to a pulp; that what we do!" Snow said as he pounded his fists together.

"If we do go down there, I suggest it should be a smaller group; we have no idea who this guy is and what he plans to do to TJ," Mickey responded, ignoring Snow's comment.

"How about Sora, me, Mickey, Lea, because he knows everyone from the Organization and their weaknesses and Leon, since he knows his way around town," Riku suggested. The four that Riku said readied their weapons, "West, I think you should stay here, don't worry, we'll..." Riku turned around to where West had been only moments before, but now she wasn't there anymore and the door was wide open.

"Oh, great, she's gone off on her own," Cid grumbled, "I swear, that kid never listens,"

"Why would she run off like that?" Kairi asked the Traverse Town group.

"I can't explain it very well," Kim spoke up, "But ever since TJ came, West has always been looking out for him. I guess they just sort have quickly formed some brother-sister relationship over time. When we told TJ that we thought West was dead, he was devastated, not even going back home seemed to cheer him up for weeks,"

"Um, I'd hate to cut this conversation short, but if you hadn't noticed; now we have _two_ reckless kids missing," Tifa interrupted.

"Okay, then, let's go!" Lea said as he, Sora, Mickey, Riku and Leon rushed out of the castle. Kairi looked over at Aerith,

"Was West always like that?" she asked.

"Yes, it was always so hard to keep an eye on her," Aerith sighed. There was a moment of silence, until Lewis spoke up,

"So, does anyone want to tell me how West is alive?"

~*KHIII*~

West ran through the tunnels that would lead her to the outer gardens. Or, at least that's what the map she stole from Kyra said. She didn't care if Kyra would kick her to the next world if she found out it was the freckle-faced thief who stole it, nor did she care if Leon and Cid screamed at her for hours. All that was on her mind at the moment was getting TJ back; her little brother. He still didn't know she was okay; she had to let him know. West stopped suddenly in the gardens with colourful flowers everywhere and a crystal-clear fountain in the centre. What was discarded on the stone ground caught West's attention; a red baseball cap. She knew it was TJ's; he never went anywhere without it. West looked straight ahead, at the fountain and noticed that there was an opening to a tunnel.

"That's it. That guy's gonna pay!" West growled as she carefully slipped TJ's cap in the brown pouch that was buckled on her hips, and ran through the small opening. It led her to some kind of purification facility. There were a few waterfalls around the wide sun-lit space and a round golden platform that connected to the stairs she was standing on (1). West ran onto the platform and anxiously looked around the space, "TJ!" West yelled desperately, "TJ where are you?"

"Loose something, freckles?"A voice asked from behind her. West turned and drew her knife, and sure enough; a man in an Organization XIII coat was standing there, holding a struggling TJ to his chest. TJ had a shocked and terrified look in his eyes, his jeans were torn, his shoelaces were untied and his hair looked like a rat's nest. "I was expecting the key-brats to show up; they send you to look ahead?"

"No, I came on my own," West growled.

"W-west?" TJ barely managed to choke out.

"Don't worry Teej, you're going to be okay," West turned her voice towards a reassuring side as she spoke at him.

"But... you're dead," TJ stammered.

"No, I'm not," West interrupted as she turned her attention back to the man who had yet to reveal his face. "Are you going to show your face? Or am I going to have to force you?" The man laughed.

"Look at you, acting all tough. Let me ask you something, freckles, why'd you ditch your buddies?"

"I didn't ditch them," West snapped, "I just needed to help TJ," and with that, West stabbed the man in the shoulder, kicked him in the gut and grabbed TJ out of the man's grip and started running back the way she came. Once they made it out of the fountain they were still running, but TJ finally got a good look at West; she _was_ alive and she still had the same personality as the West from two years ago. The two of them kept running until they made it to the Central Square, almost completely out of breath, so they stopped for a moment.

"Did... we... loose him?" TJ wheezed.

"As if!" the voice of the same man spoke as a corridor of darkness appeared in front of them.

~*KHIII*~

Sora, Lea, Riku, Mickey and Leon ran into the Castle Town; searching frantically for any sign of West or TJ. Leon noticed a red-haired girl dressed in a red shirt and white skirt sitting on a bench, so he walked up to her. The girl recognized Leon and smiled up at him.

"Hi Leon!" she said.

"Candace, you haven't seen a girl in brown pigtails, have you?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, she ran by here not too long ago," Candace pointed to the road that would lead them to the Central Square, "She went that way, looked like she was in a hurry," her voice suddenly took an annoyed tone, "By the way, you seen Phenias and Ferb?"

"Yeah, they're over at the castle working on gummi ships," Mickey replied. Candace smirked and jumped up from her seat.

"YES! Those boys are so busted!" Candace grinned as she ran off in the opposite direction, "MOM!" the party watched her for a moment,

"Okay... that was weird," Lea said.

"You get used to it after awhile," Leon replied as the group made their way towards the Central Square.

~*KHIII*~

The man from before stepped out and slowly lifted the hood from his face, revealing an older man with an old scar on his cheek, an eye patch covering one eye and long grey and black hair tied in a ponytail. West stepped protectively in front of TJ, raised her knife and glared at the man, who just laughed some more and held out his hands as two dark purple arrowguns appeared and pointed them at the two kids. "Face it freckles, no one's here to save you now," he smirked.

"I don't need saving!" West snapped as she charged at him, slashing at him several times with her knife, but he skilfully dodged. The man laughed at every one of her failed attempts as he continually teleported and shot at her. Just when he thought he was going to get a perfect shot to her head, West back flipped out of the way and landed behind him. West took advantage of the man being temporarily confused by stealing an elixir from his pocket and stabbing him in the back, "Sorry, takers keepers," she smirked. As soon as the man noticed what she had done, he turned to a rage.

"You little rat!" he roared, but before he had a chance to do anything, West yelled,

"Breaking my limit!" as she threw her knife at the man as it slashed his shoulder. The man chuckled because he thought that now West would be defenceless. That however wasn't the case. The knife continued to slash at him without West holding it. After the knife had hit him at least seven times, West jumped into the air, caught the knife and clumsily landed on the ground. Then a pale green glow surrounded her as she moved at lightning speed; slashing at the man six more times. "Later, you meanie!" West yelled as she kicked him in the chest as the man was sent flying backwards a few feet away as the glow faded from her body (2). The man noticed it was taking a while to recover, and shot her in the shoulder. West grasped it in pain as TJ watched in horror. West quickly grabbed the elixir she stole from him, but the man knocked it out of her hands and knocked her to the ground. However, before either of them could move, a gunshot from the distance shot the man in the leg. A man with black hair and a long, torn red cape jumped down in between them and pointed his gun at the man in the coat.

"I think it's time you left these children alone," the man in the red cape spoke calmly, yet there was something about his voice that sent a chill down West and TJ's spines. The man in black only chuckled as he saw five more people run towards them; Sora, Mickey, Riku, Lea and Leon. Sora and Lea gasped as they saw who had returned from Kingdom Hearts.

"Xigbar!" They both exclaimed in unison, Xigbar only smirked.

"Actually, it's Braig now. Well, look who it is," he turned to Sora, "How ya doing, kiddo?" Sora raised Kingdom Key in response, Braig, however ignored him and turned his attention to Lea, "So, pyro, looks like you're officially a traitor,"

"All I wanted out of the Organization was my heart back, now that I've got it I don't see any point in going for universal domination, got it memorized?" Lea replied.

"Well, I'll be sure to tell that to Xehanort when I see him," Braig smirked as he made his way to his feet.

"Xehanort?" Riku asked, "You mean he's coming back?"

"Duh, only a matter of time before the rest of us get our hearts back," Braig said, "And once the rest of the Organization come to us, you kids are going down,"

"What do you mean 'we'," Mickey asked.

"Oh, you didn't know that I set up shop with Maleficent?" Braig's smirk only grew, "Well, I'll tell her and Xehanort that you said hi," and with that, Braig disappeared through a corridor of darkness. Leon turned to the man in the red cape,

"Thanks, Vincent," he said.

"Don't mention it," the red-caped man replied as he helped West and TJ to their feet. West winced in pain as she grasped her wounded shoulder.

"West, what were you thinking?" Leon snapped.

"Am I grounded?" West asked. But, before Leon could answer, TJ caught West in a tight hug.

"Thanks, West," he smiled, West returned the smile as she reached into the pocket with her good arm, pulled out TJ baseball cap, and placed it on his head in his usual backwards manner.

"Anytime, Teej,"

**Goofy: *sniffle* aww... that was so sweet.**

**PrismRain13: *hands Goofy tissue box* didn't know you could get so emotional. Anyway, I should probably mention that all the "playable" characters in this fanfic are going to get their own individual Limit Break, like in **_**358/2 Days**_**. Open to suggestions, we'll start on the Disney worlds in at least two chappies. MysteryGirl, do you and Freak go to Tortuga a lot? And, I'm relieved that you're okay with Kyra's age. Could Kyra give me her imput on the story so far? Inkheartwarrior, please send me your list :) but there's sadly no guarantee that I'll be able to put them all in :( Also open to suggestions on random FF and Disney characters. Bearybeary, glad you're enjoying this and finding this funny XD.**

**Goofy: Why'd that girl want to bust Phenias and Ferb?**

**PrismRain13: Candace? She's their sister. (I don't own! She's from Disney's **_**Phenias and **_**Ferb) This has been your friendly neighbourhood nerd, PrismRain13.**

**(1): the same place where Terra fought Braig in BBS.**

**(2): West's Limit; **_**Broken Creation.**_


	13. Preperations

**PrismRain13: *sings* the Disney worlds are coming! The Disney worlds are coming!**

**TJ: What worlds?**

**PrismRain13: I'm still working out my list, and with all the great suggestions it's taking awhile. WHY DO ALL DISNEY MOVIES HAVE TO BE SO DARN GOOD?**

**TJ: Because we're awesome. Prism here doesn't claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy; those belong to Disney and/or Square Enix. **_**Final Distance**_**, the theme song is owned by Utada Hikaru. The only thing she does own is the plot and her OC's.**

_**Chapter 12: Preperations**_

West winced in pain as Aerith attempted to tend to her shoulder wound. TJ was sitting close to her, on the couch with Lewis, Zell and Donald. Phenias and Ferb, who had finished cleaning the gummi garage, were looking interestingly at a few blueprints. Sora, Kairi, Max and Kim were sitting at the table while Yuffie was sitting on the table and Riku was standing near West. Lulu, Irvine, Lea, Mickey and Goofy were standing near the wall. Cid was still sitting at the computer while Snow, Tifa, Vincent, Rinoa and Leon were casually spread out around the room.

"Well, your wound doesn't look too serious," Aerith said to West, "But it does look like it may be infected with darkness,"

"WHAT?" West shrieked, while Lewis covered his ears. Kairi moved over to look at the wound.

"Calm down," Aerith spoke calmly, "As soon as figure out how to get rid of the darkness; it'll be nothing a potion can't heal." Kairi kneeled down beside Aerith as West started panicking.

"West..." Kairi started to say as she placed her hand on the wound reassuringly. But just as she had, a golden light appeared underneath her hand. Kairi pulled her hand back in shock, but realized that West's injury had completely healed.

"Wow!" Max exclaimed excitedly, "Kairi, how'd you do that?"

"I have no idea," Kairi said, still recovering from the shock.

"It has to have something to do with you being a princess of heart," Riku said.

Leon spoke up, "So, Sora, what's the plan?"

"We're trying to find a way to save all the people who are hurting, Lea was one of them but he's here so that's one off the list," Sora explained.

"The others are Terra, Ven, Aqua, Roxas, Naminé and Xion," Mickey continued, "Roxas and Naminé are Sora and Kairi's nobodies, so they're inside them. I don't know where Xion is. Terra, Ven and Aqua were Keybearers I knew twelve years ago. Aqua is in the Relm of Darkness, which we know from West,"

"Aqua's the lady with blue hair, right?" West asked.

"Yep," Mickey nodded, "We have no idea what happened to Terra, Ven lost his heart and I don't know where Aqua hid his body or where his heart is. And I don't know how we can help Xion, Roxas and Naminé."

"So, basically the only one we know where to find is Aqua," Rinoa sighed, "Anyone know how to get in the Relm of darkness?" everyone turned to Lea, West and Riku.

"The only way I know about is a corridor of darkness," Riku explained, "But I can't make them anymore,"

"And I've tried to get in there with my corridors, but every time I try to make them, they get weaker," Lea stepped in.

"Don't look at me!" West exclaimed, "I have no idea how I got out of there and I don't plan on going back!" through the open window, three small pixies flew in, one had long, brown hair in a red ponytail and half a blue skirt, another had long, wild blonde hair and dressed in yellow and orange and the last had short silver hair and dressed in black Goth-like clothes.

"Hey! Yuna, Rikku and Paine, right?" Sora asked as the three girls nodded, "How've you guys been?"

"Well, it's been pretty boring since you left," Yuna replied.

"Found lots of treasure though!" Rikku added in a perky manner.

"Right, I can't tell you how hard it was to keep these two under control," Paine added while Rikku pouted and Yuna giggled. Just then, Kyra and Rusty walked into the room, Rusty took one look at Donald and growled. Donald hid behind Zell.

"I just checked the streets and the waterway, couldn't find any heartless or nobodies," Kyra explained, "looks like we finally scared them off," she turned to West, snarled and held out her hand. West giggled in an embarrassed manner, reached into her pocket, pulled out a crumpled map and handed it to Kyra as she toed the floor. Snow turned to Phenias, Ferb and Lewis.

"Can't you nerds just build some gizmo to take us there?"

"I prefer the term 'smart kid'," Lewis grumbled as he crossed his arms, "And wouldn't it be dangerous?"

"It could be, but who said it was impossible?" Phenias replied as he turned to his stepbrother, "Ferb, what do we have in the 'portal to a scary, dangerous place' department?" he asked. Ferb picked up a blueprint and handed it to the red-head as Lewis moved beside them to look at what they had. "Looks complicated, we'd need a few rare parts, not to mention a sample of darkness. Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today!" Lewis looked at the blueprint quizzically.

"Looks like it'll take more than a day," Lewis said, "mind if I lend a hand? You might need some help."

"No problem," Phenias smiled, "we could always use another brain,"

"How long do you think it'll take?" Lulu asked.

"I'd say at least a few days, and that's not including the prototypes that might fail. But no matter what, we'll keep moving forward," Lewis told her.

"Right," Phenias agreed, "we'll keep moving forward," Ferb nodded in agreement. (1)

"So, what do we do while they're doing that?" Max asked the king.

"Well, if Maleficent really does want to wipe us out, and she's gathering together the revived Organization members, she may even attack some of the worlds and gather even more allies. Maybe we should check them up just to make sure," Mickey suggested.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Sora nodded, recalling his adventures with his many allies across the worlds such as Aladdin, Jack Sparrow, Mulan and many others.

"Well, you're ship's almost outta fuel, so I'll just fix that, update yer weapons and you'll be good to go," Cid said. Phenias and Ferb looked at each other.

"Ferb, I know a second thing we're gonna do today," Phenias said as Cid groaned, It was then that Phenias noticed that something was missing, "Hey, where's Perry?"

"Who's Perry?" Riku asked.

"Our pet platypus, he doesn't do much," Ferb said in a clear British tone. Most of the group jumped in surprise as most of them had no idea that the green-haired boy could actually talk.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, on the world that never was, Maleficent, Pete, Mortimer and Braig as well as five more people Pete and Mortimer had met while travelling around the worlds were standing in a meeting room. The first new person in the room was a woman who looked considerably young despite the fact that she was really centuries old. Her wild, permed black hair framed her face and reached a little ways past her shoulders. She was dressed in an elegant dark red dress. Another was a thin black man dressed in various shades of purple, a necklace with a few bones on it and a top hat with a white skull on it and a purple feather. There was an old thin woman with overly wrinkled skin in a light purple dress, there was an intense amount of hate in her eyes. A young man with flaming orange hair in a black and white suit complete with a cape, boots, gloves and a giant "S" on his chest. Standing near Maleficent was someone she knew well, a tall blue-skinned man with blue flames for hair and dressed in black robes that turned to black smoke at the bottom. There was a skinny man with a pointed nose and messy brown hair dressed in a black shirt, dark pants and a white lab coat. Next to the black-haired woman was a man with blue-tinted skin, black hair tied in a ponytail, a scar on his face under his eye and dressed in blue. Next to him was a slender woman dressed in a black and green jumpsuit and had long, wavy black hair. Sitting beside Braig were two men in Organization coats; one had long blue hair, yellow eyes and an X-shaped scar on his face, and the other was fairly young with messy dirty blond hair done in a mullet.

"So, what's the plan?" the black man asked.

"If we are to accomplish our goal, we will need to gather the rest of the former Organization," Maleficent explained, "If possible we will have to make our forces stronger. There is also Xehanort, has no one heard from him?" the villains shook their heads, "Well, if he is seen, it is crucial that he knows the present situation,"

"What do we do about the heroes when we see them?" the blue-skinned man asked while the woman beside him filled her nails.

"Do whatever you want to the theif, Duck, Dog and his son, but the Keybearers and the former nobody, I want alive," Maleficent replied, "Though I have to admit, we have made astounding progress."

"What about the kid in the dungeon?" The red-haired man asked.

"Him? He is indeed powerful, but he is stubborn. Though I am fairly confident that he will assist us when i reveal to him that the man responsible for his mother's death is in Radiant Garden, with the Restoration Commitee," Maleficent smirked. While in the redecorated, darker dungeons of the same castle, a young silver haired boy lay curled up in the corner of the only occupied cell. His orange and yellow jacket and teal scarf were doing little to shield him from the coldness of his prison. The one thing that was the most recognizable about him was a black tattoo on his left wrist.

**TJ: Looks like West's leaving again *sigh*.**

**PrismRain13: Sadly, yeah. You gonna miss her?**

**TJ: Yeah I will, but at least this time I know she's okay and she won't be alone. Looks like the bad guys are plotting.**

**PrismRain13: Yeppers. See if you can guess who all the mystery people are :) I really do appreciate all the suggestions you guys gave me. But, sadly, I can't use all of them :( By the way, i could use a little help. I have a pretty good idea on how Terra, Ven and Aqua are going to come back into the fray, but I have no idea about Roxas, Namine and Xion. This has been your friendly neighbourhood nerd, Prism. **

**(1): Anyone else besides me notice that Lewis and Phenias have the same motto; _Keep Moving Forward_? Which is also Walt Disney's Motto?**


	14. Love Complications

**PrismRain13: HOLY HEARTLESS FRUITCAKE! I HAVE 54 REVEIEWS! I LOVE YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH!**

**Kim: Prism, calm down. Breathe...**

**PrismRain13: I DON'T WANNA CALM DOWN! *Kim hands Prism paper bag, Prism breathes into it* Thanks,**

**Kim: No big, Prism doesn't claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or anything else she decides to use; those belong to their respective owners. **_**Final Distance**_** is owned by Utada Hikaru and Kyra and Rusty are owned by MysteryGirl. The only thing Prism owns is the plot and her OC's, like West, Sky and Divum.**

_**Chapter 13: Love Complications**_

Riku stood outside of the castle, leaned up against the wall watching Sora, Lea, Snow and Max train, Kairi and Goofy were cheering them on. Donald was in a fight with Rusty while Kyra, Mickey and Leon were trying to break them up and Rinoa was laughing at their clumsiness in doing so. West was off having some last-minute quality time with Kim, Lulu, Lewis, Irvine, Zell and TJ. And Cid was working on the gummi ship.

"That's three for me!" Max cheered in victory when he succeeded in knocking Lea down. Lea groaned as he raised himself from the colourful stone sidewalk.

"No need to go bragging, kid," Lea groaned. Snow and Sora quit their training to take a break.

"Wow, looks like Leon wasn't lying," Snow smiled, "You really are good with that weapon,"

"Thanks, you're not bad either," Sora replied, "Where'd you learn to fight like that?"

"Well, a hero's gotta stay in shape," Snow bragged.

"You've really got to come to Olympus Coliseum and meet Hercules," Sora laughed as Snow ruffled his hair. Riku chuckled, when he heard someone clear their throat from behind him. Riku turned around to find Lulu standing there with her arms crossed and a deep glare in her red eyes.

"Got a minute?" she asked.

"...Sure," Riku spoke slowly, "I thought you and the others were catching up with West,"

"There's something important I need to talk to you about," Lulu snapped, "Now, I don't know what happened between you and West when you were working for Maleficent, nor do I know what happened to you after that. But I still don't trust you,"

"Why not?"

"That doesn't matter,"

"Yes, it kind of does!" Riku interrupted.

"Let me finish! I don't approve of you or your relationship with West, and there are plenty of people in this town who'd agree with me."

"I don't have a relationship with her! We're friends, and I haven't seen her in two years!" Lulu leaned in close to Riku's face and spoke in a dangerous tone;

"Then, keep it that way. I've seen the way the two of you look at each other, and I can see that there's something more there. West has always been like a sister to me, as she has been for the rest of us, and I don't want her to get hurt. Don't fall in love with her," Lulu glared. Riku crossed his arms over his chest and returned the glare.

"Why don't we let West decide? It's her life, and I don't think you have any right to tell her who she can't like," Lulu was about to say something, when Irvine called her over. Lulu glared at Riku one last time,

"If I find that you've hurt her in any way, you'll be sorry," Lulu said dangerously before moving towards Irvine, leaving Riku in a confused state.

~*KHIII*~

After Leon, Kyra and Mickey had succeeded in separating Donald and Rusty, Leon had gone over to Rinoa and wrapped his arm around her slender shoulders.

"You know, you could have helped instead of laughing your head off and making me look like an idiot," Leon said to her.

"Squall, you never look like an idiot," Rinoa giggled. Leon sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"I told you, it's Leon," he spoke sadly.

"Why do you keep insisting on this? It's not your name!" Rinoa demanded. Leon removed his arm from her shoulders and gazed up at the sky, a look of regret in his eyes.

"I can't call myself that anymore; Squall was a boy who was weak, a boy who couldn't protect his home, who couldn't protect his angel," Rinoa could have sworn she saw a tear roll down his cheeks from stormy blue eyes. Rinoa placed her arms around Leon's torso and leaned in close to him as an act of comfort. "I let you down, Rinoa. Not just you, my dad, Cloud, Serah, Lightning, Snow, Tifa, Vincent..."

"Squall Leonhart, listen to me!" Rinoa interrupted as she turned to face him, "You weren't weak, you tried your best and you did help a bunch of people. You did everything you could to stop the heartless before and after you lost your home. And when you came back after nine years, you worked even harder; to make this place even better than it used to be. And you led people back home; you led me home. Anyone else would have given up a long time ago, but you didn't! And I know that everyone is proud of you," Leon managed a smile, when he fully embraced his angel.

"You always know what to say," he said, his tone lightening.

"I do try, Leon," Rinoa was about to say more, but before she could, Leon placed his finger over her lips, silencing her,

"It's Squall," he smiled. He removed his finger to reveal Rinoa's smiling face. She grasped his face, and kissed Squall fully on the lips. Squall tightened his embrace around her before he closed his eyes and returned the kiss, at that moment, he felt as though nothing would stand in his way now.

~*KHIII*~

Kairi sat on a small wooden bench in the plaza watching Goofy and Max bond, Snow and Vincent argue about Snow's lack of work, Mickey and Donald train with Kyra and Rusty (well, Kyra and Mickey were training, Rusty and Donald were glaring at each other) and West and her "family" were enjoying sea-salt ice cream from Scrooge McDuck's stand with Lea.

"How does it feel to be home?" a voice she knew well asked, Kairi smiled and turned around. Sure enough, it was Sora.

"Fine," Kairi replied as Sora sat down beside her, "I mean, I don't remember much of what it was like from when I was little, but I do think that it's a great place now,"

"Yeah, they've done a great job," Sora agreed as Kairi nodded. There was a moment of silence, before Kairi spoke again,

"Sora, do you think we can do it?" she asked with concern slipping into her voice.

"Where did that come from? Are you getting cold feet already?" Sora asked, Kairi shook her head.

"I'm just worried, about what you told me Xigbar said; if Xehanort really does come back, will he have even more reason to hurt us. I just know something happened to Terra, Ven and Aqua a long time ago and..."

"You think Xehanort had something to do with it?" Sora asked.

"Yes," Kairi nodded, "and if he did cause them so much pain, then he could hurt us; tear us apart."

"We can beat him!" Sora said, "And we can help them, you just need to learn to be confident," Sora took Kairi's hands in his, "I know you can," Kairi smiled as the young Keyblade Master; the young man who always has a goofy smile on his face and who always managed to make her smile. Kairi snuggle in close to him, and pecked him on the cheek. Sora blushed furiously as Kairi giggled. But, just then, Phenias and Ferb came running towards them with huge smiles on their faces,

"The gummi ship's all ready!" Phenias exclaimed, "You're all ready to go!" Sora stood up to his feet,

"Thanks guys, we'll be right there," Sora said. He started walking, before he realised that Kairi was still sitting there; gazing at a field of bright, colourful flowers. Sora moved back to the princess and held out his hand to her, "We can do this, together," Kairi smiled at him warmly and gladly took his hand. And the two of them made their way to the castle. When they arrived, the entire group was already there, West was busy saying goodbye to her family and Kyra was trying to keep Rusty away from Donald. As soon as Tifa saw that they were there, she walked towards Sora,

"Hey, Sora," she said calmly yet sadly, "Can I ask you a favour?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Sora asked.

"If you happen to see Cloud, could you tell him to come home? We all really miss him," Tifa requested.

"No problem; I was wondering where he and Sephiroth disappeared to anyway," Sora replied, Tifa nodded in appreciation as Leon moved over to Sora and placed an encouraging hand on his shoulder,

"Good luck Sora, if there's anything you need, we'll be here," he said.

"Thanks a ton, Leon," Sora replied as Leon shook his head.

"It's Squall now," He smiled, just then, a puff of grey smoke appeared as an old man in blue robes and a long, white beard appeared from it,

"Glad I caught you before you took off," he chuckled kindly.

"Hi Merlin!" Mickey waved.

"Wonderful to see you again, Your Majesty," he turned to Sora, Riku and Kairi, "Now, I do hope that your magical abilities have been beneficial to you," he three teens nodded, "Wonderful, if the three of you need any assistance, I'll be here. And I do hope you'll stop by,"

"Don't worry, we will," Lea replied.

"Well then, I with you all good luck," Merlin responded as the nine heroes boarded the gummi ship.

"Wait!" Phenias called as he and Ferb ran up to them, Ferb was holding something small close to his chest. Sora walked over to them to hear what they had to say, "We've got something that might help you," Ferb handed Sora the object and Sora took it from Ferb's hands. It was a small turquoise charm with a light brown detective's hat printed on it. Sora recognized what it was immediately; a summon charm. He immediately called it the "Agent charm".

"Thanks a bunch guys," Sora thanked them.

"Good luck," Phenias waved as Ferb saluted them. Sora ran back on the ship and waved at the people he was leaving behind; Leon who was now known as Squall, Rinoa, Vincent, Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, Snow, Merlin, Phenias, Ferb, Candace, Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Kim, Irvine, Lulu, Lewis, Zell and TJ. The doors of the ship closed and they took off into the sky. Snow looked on at them for a long time, until he reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a small pale blue crystal in the shape of a teardrop.

"I hope I find you soon, Serah," Snow said as he held the crystal close to his chest, thinking of his bride-to-be.

**PrismRain13: Well, its 9/11 tomorrow, that's going to be a depressing day.**

**Kim: I'm not going to have to keep handing you tissues, am I?**

**Prismrain13: No, I'll be okay. By the way, I noticed a lot of you were able to recognize most of the mystery people from the last chapter; awesome job! So, the first Disney world will be next chapter; here's a clue; Disney Princess World! Love, your friendly neighbourhood nerd, PrismRain13!**

**Kim: Please Review, it makes Prism happy!**


	15. The New World

**PrismRain13: Yes! The first Disney World!**

**Mickey: Welp, I'm really looking forward to this. The nine of us traveling and working together across different worlds.**

**PrismRain13: Yep! You, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kairi, Max, Lea and West. Disclaimer please, your majesty,**

**Mickey: No problem! Prism doesn't own Kingdom hearts or Final Fantasy; they belong to Square Enix and/or Disney. Nor does she own any of the Disney movies she decides to make into worlds. And the theme song, **_**Final Distance**_** belongs to Utada Hikaru. Prism only owns the plot and her OCs.**

_**Chapter 14: The New World**_

Maleficent walked in silence through the cold dungeons of her castle, then stopped at the only occupied cell; the cell containing the silver-haired boy. The witch stood there for a few minutes, but the boy didn't acknowledge her existence. Maleficent cleared her throat, and as a result, the boy turned to look at her with pale green eyes. Looking at him, he couldn't be any older than fourteen years old, and had a look of innocence surrounding him, but beneath all that; was formidable power.

"How are you feeling, child?" Maleficent asked the boy while he stared at her in fear, "It must be cold in there, why don't we move you somewhere more suitable?" the witch placed her hand on the silver, cold bars. The bars began to glow a dark green, then vanished as though they had never been there at all, but the boy still didn't move. Maleficent walked into the cell and stood over the boy.

"Why am I here?" he asked, speaking for the first time. Maleficent smirked.

"What would you say if I told you that I know the location of the one responsible for your mother's death?" she asked. The boy's head instantly perked up, "He'll be all yours, once we seize control of Radiant Garden," the silver-haired child stood up from the stone floor and looked into the witch's eyes.

"You want me to kill him?" his voice quivered.

"I assumed you would want to," Maleficent replied, "Wouldn't your mother want to be avenged? I thought you'd want to honour her, by ending the life of that horrible man," The boy looked down at his feet, small tears trickling down his cheeks, "Don't you want that, Hope?" before he could stop himself, Hope nodded. Maleficent smiled, "Wonderful, now, why don't you follow me to your new quarters," the witch turned around and began walking back the way she came, Hope following slowly behind.

~*KHIII*~

The gummi ship landed on a world unfamiliar to all nine of the world-travelers. It was a world that consisted of valleys full of healthy trees, forests, waterfalls and rivers. The nine of them were standing in the middle of a wide variety of trees, a large river of water beside them. Yet, there was a calm, peaceful air surrounding them.

"Anyone been here?" Sora asked his team, everyone shook their heads. West climbed up a nearby tree to get a better view. Mickey looked up, afraid that West was going to fall. Riku leaned up against the same tree with Lea. Max and Donald sat down on the soft green grass and Kairi slipped her high-tops off her feet and waded in the clear, clean water.

"It's so peaceful here," Kairi sighed.

"I wonder if anyone lives here," Goofy looked around excitedly, while Max rolled his eyes.

"It's a forest, who'd live here?" Donald quacked.

"Well, as long as we're here, we might as well look around," Lea said as he began walking into the woods, and saw that West was still in the tree, "You coming, pigtails?" West jumped down from the tree and landed on her rear beside Riku and Max.

"You really shouldn't do that," Max told her, "you could hurt yourself," Riku held out his hand and helped West to her feet.

"Why do you do that if you know you're not going to land on your feet," Riku asked her.

"It's fun!" West beamed.

"Come on you guys!" Donald quacked, getting impatient. West giggled and skipped ahead of the duck enthusiastically.

_**Wilds of America**_

The nine of them kept walking until they reached a small sunlit clearing, surrounded by healthy green trees. Suddenly, the group was surrounded by several different breeds of heartless; shadows, red nocturnes, creeper plants and air soldiers. The world-traveling party drew their weapons and charged into battle. Max rode his skateboard across the roots of a few creeper plants, causing them to screech in pain, distracting them long enough for Lea to burn them. Kairi slashed at the shadows with Destiny's Embrace, following Sora's lead. Donald fired blasts of ice at the red nocturnes, freezing them instantly. Mickey jumped high in the air and slashed at the air soldiers, West trying to imitate his moves. A handful of shadows, red nocturnes and air soldiers trapped Goofy into a corner, holding his shield up for protection. But, just as a shadow was about lunge at him, he shouted,

"You're making me mad!" Goofy swung his shield in an upward arc, reducing that shadow to nothing, then did the same to the red nocturnes, and shadows that were surrounding him, "This is gonna hurt!" he shouted as he began to spin around faster, and faster until it looked like he had become a small tornado. He spun in several random directions, eliminating heartless with every spin. And by the time he was done, all the heartless had vanished and he had become extremely dizzy(1). Max placed his hands on Goofy's back, to provide his dad with support.

"Nice work, Goofy," Mickey praised.

"H-uck! Thanks your majesty!" Goofy ginned.

"That was just amazing!" A female voice said. The group looked around, but saw no one.

"Who's there?" Sora asked. A second later, a native woman with long, dark hair, bare feet and dressed in a short dress made out of some kind of animal skin and a blue necklace. She was followed by a raccoon and a hummingbird, (2) "Who are you?"

"My name is Pocahontas," the woman smiled kindly, "No one from our village has been able to defeat those monsters. How did you do it?" Sora, Kairi, Riku and Mickey raised their hands and showed their keyblades to her.

"With these," Kairi explained, "They're called Keyblades; they're one of the few things that works against the heartless," Pocahontas looked at the weapons with great interest.

"Keyblade?" she asked, "Heartless?" the raccoon grinned at his reflection in Kingdom Key, and tapped at it with his claw. The humming bird squeaked a few times in an irritated manner and flew around Lea and Donald. The two tried to swat him away, but both only ended up getting frustrated.

"What the heck is with this thing?" Lea demanded as Donald threw a tantrum and West giggled. The hummingbird landed on Pocahontas's finger and turned his back to them.

"Flit doesn't trust strangers," Pocahontas explained.

"Have you always had a problem with the heartless?" Max asked. Pocahontas shook her head.

"Not always, they just appeared one day, shortly after the strange clouds appeared,"

"Strange clouds?" West asked as she raised her eyebrow.

"Some white men came. I've been talking with one of them for some time now; he might know where they came from,"

"Okay, then. What's his name?" Sora asked.

"John Smith," Pocahontas replied, "I don't think you told me your names,"

"I'm Sora, this is Kairi, Riku, Donald, Goofy, King Mickey, Max, Lea and West,"

"It's nice to meet you all, I told him to meet me in this clearing with me today, let's go," Pocahontas picked up the raccoon, who was still staring at his reflection in Sora's Keyblade. But when Sora dismissed it, the raccoon frowned.

**PrismRain13: Not sure I'm happy with how this chapter ended.**

**Mickey: I was wondering if you were going to put that world in there.**

**PrismRain13: well, I did :) just to let you guys know; I'm basically done planning out the worlds, but I'm still open to suggestions on what could happen in each world and boss fights. And you'll probably find out who the summon is next chappie. Kim; you don't need to worry, I'm not going to sue you, Kim's not even my character, she's from a Disney TV show. MysteryGirl, it looks like Rachel wins the bet, sorry :( and, I'm sorry to say that you're all wrong about who the summon is, and about the other worlds you guys said; two of them aren't going to make an appearance at all, and one of them is going to be last and Kyra will make an appearance again, just not on any of the worlds they're going to. Inkheartwarrior, I don't want to tell you if you're right or wrong, cuz it might spoil it for everyone else, sorry :( anyway, thanks for the suggestions, and I'm sorry I won't be able to use all of them.**

**Mickey: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, Prism really likes it when you do.**

**PrismRain13: Yes I do your majesty. This has been your friendly neighbourhood nerd, PrismRain13!**

**(1): Goofy's Limit break; **_**Goofy Tornado**_

**(2): Flit is a hummingbird, right?**


	16. Grandmother Willow

**PrismRain13: Well, here I am with a new chapter.**

**Pocahontas: I really like this story so far.**

**PrismRain13: You're not just saying that cuz you're in it are you?**

**Pocahontas: Of course not, though I do appreciate you allowing me and my world a place in this story. PrismRain13 does not claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or anything else she decides to use, those belong to Square Enix and/or Disney. The theme song, **_**Final Distance**_** belongs to Utada Hikaru. The only things Prism owns is the plot and her OCs.**

_**Chapter 15: Grandmother Willow**_

Pocahontas led the world-travellers to a large birch tree surrounded by a body of water. Lea was careful to avoid the water, while Donald was getting frustrated with all the bugs. Sitting on the ground nearby was a white man with wavy blond hair dressed in a light blue shirt, darker blue vest, navy pants and brown travelling boots. Pocahontas waved to him,

"John!" she called. The man instantly raised his head at the sound of her voice and waved back.

"Hey," he said as he raised himself from the ground. The racoon ran over to him and placed himself on his shoulder, "Hey, Meeko," John said as he petted the raccoon. It was then that John noticed the nine off-worlders, "Who are your new friends?"

"I'm Sora," Sora introduced himself.

"Kairi,"

"Riku,"

"Donald,"

"Mickey,"

"Name's Lea, got it memorized?"

"West,"

"Nice ta meccha, I'm Goofy and this is my boy, Maxie," Goofy said as he gave Max a noogie.

"Dad, I can introduce myself," Max groaned, while John and Pocahontas laughed.

"It's a pleasure, but what are you doing here?" John asked.

"We're here to stop those creepy black creatures; the heartless," West explained.

"Pocahontas told us you might have some answers," Mickey said. John shook his head.

"Sorry, I wish I had something to tell you but I don't know where they came from," he told them, "But they did start showing up a little while after me and everyone else got here," John went on explaining that he was part of a crew that went out to sea to search for land along with Governor Radcliff. The heartless were causing a lot of problems for both Pocahontas's village and John's crew, so no one knew where they had come from. He had met Pocahontas a few days after he came and she has been showing him the beauty of the world, while John was showing her his many items from London (which Meeko always stole). Then, John told them that the rest of his crew only came here to dig the land up for gold. Donald's eyes immediately filled with greed.

"What's gold?" Pocahontas asked with interest.

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT GOLD IS?" Donald quaked in frustration, forcing Goofy and Mickey to restrain him and attempt to calm him down. It took the group a little while to recover from the shock that had just passed.

"Is he always like that?" John asked the group, Sora laughed.

"It happens more often than you'd think," he said.

"Anyway," John turned to Pocahontas, "gold is yellow, it comes out of the ground, and it's really valuable," he explained. Pocahontas nodded her head in understanding.

"Oh, we have lots of it," Pocahontas smiled. Donald, who had finally calmed down had the greed return to his eyes. She reached into a hand-made bag and pulled out an ear of corn and handed it to John, "See? Gold," Donald sighed in defeat.

"Thanks, I was hungry," Lea said as he took the corn from Pocahontas and started eating it, Kairi rolled her eyes.

"Pocahontas, I don't think that's what John meant," Kairi said to the native woman as she reached into the pouch on her dress and pulled out a piece of munny, "this is gold," Pocahontas looked at it curiously.

"There's nothing like that around here," she said.

"No gold?" Donald sighed. Meeko took the piece of munny from Kairi's hand and tried to eat it, but when he realized that it wasn't edible, he threw it away like garbage.

"Well, those boys are in for a big surprise," John laughed.

"If you can't find any gold, then does that mean you'll leave?" Max asked.

"Some of us might," John replied. Sora looked over at Pocahontas and noticed that she had a sad look in her eyes.

"Will you go home?" she asked.

"Well, I don't really have much of a home to go back to," John explained, "I've never really belonged anywhere,"

"You could belong here," for a moment, it looked like they were going to kiss. For this reason, Donald covered his eyes, Lea looked away and West stared at them. Sora heard a faint sound that sounded almost like singing and looked at the tree; it looked like a face was being formed in the bark, and then disappeared. John must have seen the same thing as Sora because he had a shocked look on his face as well. "Did you see something?" Pocahontas asked them.

"No... no way... I ... I didn't see anything," John stammered.

"I didn't see anything either, you can rule me out there," Sora tried to sound convincing, but he was never good at lying, Riku and Kairi learned that quickly.

"Look again," Pocahontas told them, the smile never leaving her face. The party looked at the tree one more time, and saw a face of an old, wise woman appear on the bark with a kind smile.

"Hello, John Smith," the tree spoke kindly, "And to you, Sora, Donald, Goofy, Riku, Kairi, Max, Lea and West," The world travelers looked at each other with confused looks in their eyes, except for Mickey, who the tree turned too next, "It's a pleasure to see you again, your majesty,"

"Grandmother Willow!" Mickey said excitedly, "How have you been?"

"Oh, same as usual, not much happens when you're a tree," she laughed, "How's Minnie?"

"Well, she's not happy about me leaving again, but I'm sure the kingdom will fine in her care," Grandmother Willow chuckled. Sora just stared at the tree.

"Okay, since the tree is talking... I must be dreaming," Sora said quietly. Kairi leaned over to him and roughly pinched his skin. Sora let out a girly shriek from the pain while Kairi giggled.

"Nope, you're not dreaming," She laughed.

"Maybe you should talk to her," Pocahontas suggested to the group, who all looked uneasy.

"Don't be frightened my dears," Grandmother Willow said to them, "my bark is worse than my bite," No one, other than Goofy seemed to get the joke, because he fell to the ground laughing.

"Dad, that wasn't even that funny," Max told his father. Mickey tuned to John,

"Go on, say something," he encouraged.

"What do you say to a tree?" John asked as Pocahontas pulled him to his unsteady feet.

"Anything you want," the native woman smiled as the rest of the group rose to their feet. Grandmother Willow took a moment to examine all the travelers (except for Mickey, who she already knew) she eventually turned to Sora.

"You are here to put a stop to those horrid creatures, I hope?" she asked the young Keyblade master.

"Y... yes ma'am" Sora stammered, "We've all been fighting them for a long time and are hoping to stop them for good," he explained. Grandmother Willow looked over at the other world-travellers.

"And this is your group?" she asked, Sora nodded, "Well young man, I believe you have made a great choice, every person in your party has a good heart," she then turned to John , "and as for you, you too have a good heart, and he's handsome too!" she winked at Pocahontas. John immediately relaxed.

"Oh, I like her," he smirked. Pocahontas hugged him, and the rest of the group relaxed since the shock of seeing the tree talk had disappeared.

"Smith!" an accented voice suddenly shouted from nearby, "Smith! Where are ya mate?" Sora, John, Mickey and Pocahontas peeked out from behind Grandmother Willow and saw two men dressed similarly to John, one with long black hair and the other with red hair and beard and they were both carrying guns. Sora assumed that they were part of John's crew.

"We can't let them see us!" John exclaimed.

"Quick! Hide!" Mickey told the group. West climbed up Grandmother Willow and hid in the branches with Mickey, Max and Donald. Lea discarded the piece of corn he had been eating and hid in the bushes with Goofy and Kairi. Sora and Riku jumped into the water and held their breaths (they could both hold their breaths for at least fifteen minutes, since they grew up on an island). While Pocahontas and John hid behind Grandmother Willow.

"This place gives me the creeps," the red-haired man said nervously, "savages could be hiding anywhere,"

"aye," the black-haired man replied, "Well, if you spot one, don't ask questions; just shoot!" Grandmother Willow smirked and raised one of her roots when they weren't looking and both men tripped and clumsily fell to the ground. "Watch your feet you big oaf!" the black-haired man snapped.

"It wasn't me!" the second man shot defensively, "It was the tree!"

"Oh, of course!" the first man said sarcastically, "the tree just felt like lifting its roots!" Suddenly, a horde of shadow heartless rose from the ground. "It's those beasts again! Quick, let's get out of here!"

"But what about Smith?"

"He can take care of himself! Just go!" and with that, the two men ran away as fast as their legs could carry them. As soon as they were gone, the heartless began to multiply, and a Stealth Sneak (1) appeared in the middle of the shadows and powerwilds. The party jumped out of their hiding places and raised their weapons, Pocahontas joined them and raised a spear made out of rock, wood and twine with two eagle feathers at the end. The Stealth Sneak turned invisible and attacked the world-travellers, they tried to attack it, but kept missing, because they couldn't see where their target was moving to. Donald tried hitting it with an ice spell, but accidently hit Riku, who Kairi quickly healed with a newly-learned cure spell. Lea swung his flaming chackrams in every direction possible, and was succeeding in hitting shadows, but there was still no luck in hitting the Stealth Sneak. West, Goofy and Max put their effort into attacking the powerwilds, who stood little to no chance against the three of them. Mickey kept trying to hit the Stealth Sneak, but couldn't get a solid hit in. Pocahontas and Sora stood back to back and attacked the shadows and powerwilds that were attacking them.

"This is getting us nowhere," Sora groaned, then suddenly remembered the summon charm he still had in his pocket; the one that Phenias and Ferb had given him. Sora turned to Pocahontas, "Cover me while I do something, okay?" Pocahontas nodded her head in understanding and strongly attacked the heartless while Sora made his getaway. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Agent charm and held it close to his heart, "Perry!" he shouted as the charm began to glow turquoise. As the light died down, a turquoise-furred platypus appeared in front of Sora; he was standing on all fours and looked like he couldn't do much.

"How's that thing gonna help?" Donald quacked in frustration when he saw what Sora had summoned. A powerwild must have heard what Donald had said, because it charged towards Sora, but before it could attack him, Perry jumped to two feet, raised his tiny fists and punched the heartless so hard that it flew into the sky. The platypus then pulled out a brown detective's hat and placed it on his head. Perry continued to attack the remaining heartless with punches, kicks and hits from his tail. Sora followed him, attacking heartless along the way as well. Perry then started attacking what looked to the group as thin air, but when they saw that he kept attacking, they realized that he was attacking the Stealth Sneak. Sora followed the platypus and attacked whatever was in front of him. Perry then jumped on Sora's head and raised his fists into the air as if to say "let's do this". Sora jumped up high into the air and Perry jumped off his head, as soon as they approached their target, Sora slashed at it with Kingdom Key and Perry kicked it. The Stealth Sneak reappeared and then disappeared into the darkness. Sora turned to Perry, who had just landed on the ground.

"Thanks, Agent P," Sora said to him as Perry saluted to him, and then disappeared in a flash of turquoise light (2).

"Excellent work, all of you," Grandmother Willow congratulated them.

"Are we awesome or what?" West said in her usual perky tone. John sighed.

"Well, I'd better get back before they send the whole camp out after me," he told them.

"Wait," Riku said, "What if someone sent the heartless after you? Maybe some of us should come with you," John placed a hand on Riku's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine,"

"I think it's a good idea," Mickey told him, "some of us could go with you, another group of us can go with Pocahontas to her village and one other person could stay here with Grandmother Willow," John and Pocahontas agreed, "Alright, Lea, Riku, West and Donald will go with John, Sora, Max, Kairi and myself will go with Pocahontas and Goofy will stay here and keep an eye on Grandmother Willow. We'll meet up here tonight, is that okay with everyone?" Max raised his hand,

"Quick question, your majesty; if someone in one of the groups is controlling the heartless, what makes you think they'll listen to us?" he asked.

"I don't, Max. We can only hope that they'll see reason," and with that, the groups parted on their separate ways.

**Pocahontas: I hope my father will listen to them.**

**PrismRain13: You'll just have to wait and see ;) Anyway, before I forget, I just want to let you guys know that sometime in October, me and my BFF, Aguamenta are going to start working on a crossover fic for Kingdom Hearts and Harry Potter. It's going to be posted on her profile though, and we're going to be alternating chapters. So, I'll let you know when we've actually posted it, and please check it out *insert kitty eyes here* also, for this story, I'm going to be posting some polls on my profile, so if you have time, check those out too :) and now we know who the summon is; it's Perry the Platypus from **_**Disney's Phenias and Ferb.**_

**Pocahontas: wow, you have a lot going on; didn't you also accept a challenge?**

**PrismRain13: yep, it's a response to WishingDreamer5's challenge. The Odd Duo; congrats freak on getting your revenge on Jack (Pirates, you can't trust them with chocolate!), and I'm glad you found the part with Flit funny! And, I wasn't aware that Aladdin had a son... is he one of your OC's or is he actually from Disney? Inkheartwarrior, yep, you were right about the summon, sorry I didn't tell you right away :( **

**Pocahontas: Please review, Prism accepts anonymous reviews, so you don't need a profile!**

**PrismRain13: This has been your friendly neighbourhood nerd, Prism.**

**(1): the same heartless that was fought in Deep Jungle in KH1.**

**(2): Perry's Limit; **_**Agent Platypus**_


	17. Chief Powhatan and Governor Ratcliffe

**John Smith: 70 reviews already?**

**PrismRain13: I know, isn't it awesome?**

**John Smith: Well, I must say that the people who have been reviewing have been very supportive.**

**PrismRain13: Yeah! Thank you soooo much to everyone who has reviewed so far! You guys are officially the best people in the world.**

**John Smith: Prism doesn't claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or anything else she decides to use. **_**Final Distance**_**, the theme song belongs to Utada Hikaru. She only owns the plot and her OC's**

_**Chapter 16: Chief Powhatan and Governor Ratcliff**_

Sora, Pocahontas, Kairi, Max and Mickey had arrived at the Powhatan tribe in a few short minutes. The Chief, who Pocahontas had said was her father. He was a tall muscular man with long, black hair that was only on one side of his head and had a few eagle feathers in his hair. He was dressed in robes made from some kind of animal skin. The chief was talking to a large group of different native tribes.

"Pocahontas!" the group turned to find another native woman around Pocahontas's age running towards them, "Where have you been?"

"Now that we are joined by our brothers," the Chief projected, "we will defeat this enemy!" Kairi turned to Pocahontas.

"Is he talking about the settlers?" she asked. Pocahontas nodded and ran up to her father, the four off-worlders following closely behind, leaving the other woman with a confused look on her face.

"Father, I need to speak with you," Pocahontas said to him, but her father cut her off.

"Not now, my daughter," Chief Powhatan, "The council is gathering,"

"You don't have to fight them," Max said. The Chief turned and looked curiously at Sora, Kairi, Max and Mickey.

"And who might you be?" he asked. Mickey stepped forward.

"I'm Mickey, King of Disney Castle, and this is Sora, Kairi and Max. I assure you sir, we mean you no harm."

"We're here to stop the heartless, the black monsters," Sora added, "If we find out who's controlling them, we'll be able to stop them."

"I appreciate your offer, young man. An I believe that you are not here to harm us, but we already know who is bringing the creatures here," The group looked on with interest, "We know that it must be the white invaders who brought them here in order to destroy us. Which is why we are preparing for war."

"But, there must be another way!" Pocahontas exclaimed. Chief Powhatan turned to his daughter.

"Sometimes our paths are chosen for us," he said to her.

"Maybe we could try talking to them," Kairi suggested.

"They do not want to talk," he said as he turned to leave, but Pocahontas wouldn't have it, she grabbed a hold of her father's arm.

"But, if one of them did want to talk, would you listen?" she pleaded.

"Pocahontas, I-"

"Wouldn't you?" The Chief took a moment before replying,

"Of course I would, but it is not that simple. Nothing is simple anymore," he told the group as he stoked Pocahontas's hair, and then walked into the nearby tent where the council meeting was being held.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, John was leading Riku, Lea, Donald and West to where his crew had set up camp, with Meeko following closely behind. Soon, they had arrived at a fortress made from chopped down trees. Guarding the front entrance was a young man with short red hair, dressed in green and holding a long rifle. Meeko quickly hid in John's bag when he saw the gun. When John accidentally stepped on a stray twig, causing it to snap rather loudly, the young man turned around suddenly and pointed his gun at them and they raised their hands in defence.

"Easy, Thomas, it's me," John said, Riku assumed that he knew the young man well.

"Oh, John," Thomas gasped in shock, "I could have killed you,"

"Yeah, that would be a possibility when you point a gun at somebody," Donald stated. Thomas gazed at the four newcomers uneasily and pointed his gun at them.

"Woah, dude," West exclaimed as she held up her hands in defence, "We're good guys," John put a reassuring hand on Thomas's shoulder, and only then did he lower his weapon.

"It's alright," he told him, "They're with me," John lead the off-worlders inside the fortress and Thomas followed.

"Smith! There ya are!" the voice of the same black-haired man from before exclaimed as he ran towards John along with the red-haired man.

"We were looking all over for you!" the red-haired man added.

"Well, Ben, Lon (1). I'm glad to hear that I was missed," John chuckled.

"Who are these fellows?" Ben asked motioning towards the newcomers. Riku was about to introduce himself and the others before a loud, demanding voice called out.

"Smith!" a large man dressed in maroon clothing and black pigtailed hair followed by a skinny brown-haired man dressed in yellow, "Where have you been? And who are these intruders?" Donald huffed, clearly not enjoying this man's company.

"I was scouting the terrains. And I met these travellers along the way." John explained.

"We're here because of the monsters. We have experience fighting them and were hoping we could help," Riku added.

"Excellent," Ratcliff stated, "Then you must know the Indians whereabouts. We'll need that information for battle."

"What battle?" John asked.

"We'll eliminate these savages once and for all!" Ratcliff stated.

"No! You can't do that!" West snapped as she raised her fist. Ratcliff raised his eyebrow, shocked that someone as young as West would say such a thing to him.

"Oh, can't I?" he asked, "And who are you to judge me, young lady?" Riku stepped behind West, forcefully lowered her fist and dragged her away from Ratcliff.

"Look, we don't have to fight them," John said to the group of settlers. Thomas as well as the rest of the settlers stared at John as if he had lost his mind.

"John?" Thomas asked, "What's gotten into you?"

"We've met one," John said.

"You've _what_?" Ben asked in shock.

"A _savage_?" Thomas spoke as if it was the worst thing John could ever do.

"They're not savages, got it memorized," Lea said to them, obviously getting irritated.

"They can help us," John added, "They know the land. They know how to navigate the river."

"And they've got food too," Riku added.

"Like what?" Lou asked, suddenly growing an interest.

"Well, food much better than gruel, that's for sure," John scoffed.

"I like gruel," the man next to Ratcliff; Wiggins added with a goofy grin. Ratcliff growled and stomped up towards John.

"They don't want to feed us!" he roared to the settlers, "They want to kill us! All of us! They've got our gold! And they'll do anything to keep it!"

"There isn't any gold ya big palooka!" Donald interrupted, resulting in multiple confused looks.

"No gold?" Ben asked in disbelief. Ratcliff only smiked.

"And I suppose your little Indian friend told you this?" He asked.

"Yes," John replied strongly.

"Lies!" Ratcliff exclaimed, "Lies, all of it! Murderous thieves! There's no room for their kind in civilized society!"

"But this is their land," John argued.

"This is my land! I make the laws here!" By then he and John were face to face, glaring at each other, "And I say; anyone who so much as looks at an Indian without killing him on sight will be tried for treason and hanged!" He turned from John for a moment and directed his attention towards Riku, Lea, West and Donald, "And as for the four of you, I wouldn't get too comfortable," Ratcliff scoffed as he turned back to his tent, Wiggins following behind him while the rest of the settlers went back to their daily routine. Lea placed a hand on John's shoulder.

"Well, that went well," he said.

"So, what do we do now?" West asked.

"Right now, we wait," John replied.

~*KHIII*~

Night had fallen over the world, but Sora, Pocahontas, Kairi, Max and Mickey were hurrying as fast as they could to Grandmother Willow's tree to meet up with Goofy, John and everyone else. They had stopped when they had reached the corn field, which Pocahontas had told them would be the fastest way to their destination.

"Pocahontas!" a voice called before they could enter the corn field. The group turned around to find the same native woman they had previously spoken to standing there.

"Nakoma," Pocahontas said.

"Don't go out there. I lied for you once, don't ask me to do it again," Nakoma told her friend with power in her voice.

"I have to do this," Pocahontas told her as she was about to leave with the world-travellers, but Nakoma grabbed her arm.

"He's one of them!"

"You don't know him!" Pocahontas retorted.

"You go out there, and you'll be turning your back on your own people!"

"We're trying to help your people!" Max said to her, but Nakoma ignored him.

"Pocahontas, please. You're my best friend; I don't want to see you get hurt." Sora suddenly felt a pain in his chest, remembering all the time he had to spend separated from Riku and Kairi. It had hurt so much not to be with them. And now that pain was back because now, Riku, Donald and Goofy weren't with him right now. He felt as though he understood what Nakoma was feeling. He, however never was able to voice his thoughts when Pocahontas told her,

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing," and then disappeared into the field along with Sora, Mickey, Kairi and Max.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, West, Riku, Donald, Lea and Meeko were sitting around casually in John's tent. They were waiting for the right time to sneak out to meet up with the others, which John was making sure of. Riku was sitting cross-legged on the floor, Lea was lying on John's cot, Donald was on the ground on his stomach and West was sitting on the cot, soaking Meeko who was sitting on her lap.

"I'm telling you, I'm really getting a bad feeling about this Ratcliff guy," Riku told the group.

"Same here," West agreed, "I mean, he just invaded this place that already has people living here and just claims it for his own? Talk about a huge ego,"

"Do ya think he's the one controlling the heartless?" Donald asked Riku. Riku nodded.

"Based on who we've met so far, I'd say it's a safe bet," Riku replied.

"But, that doesn't make any sense," Lea injected, "John said that his crew's been having problems with the heartless too. If Ratcliff is controlling them, then why'd he attack his own crew?" But, before anyone could come up with a good answer, John entered the tent.

"They're not paying us any attention now," He told them, "If we want to leave, now's the best time," The off-worlders quickly rose to their feet and quietly left the tent. They snuck around the camp as stealthily as they could, which wasn't easy since West was there. Once they had made it to the exit, they all quickly ran into the woods. Little did they know that someone had been watching them. Thomas peeked out of the walls of the camp and silently watched John and the strange people run off. Where was he going? What did those travellers have to do with it? Suddenly, he felt a strong hand on his back push him from behind, out of the fort. Thomas turned to find Governor Ratcliff looking at him sternly.

"Follow them," Ratcliff ordered the young man.

"Yes, Governor," Thomas stood up straight.

"I want to know where Smith is sneaking off to and if there are any more of those strange travellers; I don't trust them,"

"Yes, sir," Thomas said in an obedient tone.

"And if you happen to see any Indians," Ratcliff reached behind him, pulled out a long rifle and threw it into Thomas's hands, "shoot them," There was a moment when Thomas looked uneasy, but then started to walk away. "Oh, and Thomas," Thomas turned around again to face the Governor, "You've been a slip sawed sailor and a poor excuse for a soldier. Don't disappoint me again," Ratcliff told him as he turned back toward his tent. The uneasy look returned to Thomas, now only stronger than before and also looked deeply hurt, but he still followed John and the world-travellers, careful not to let them notice he was there.

**John: Well, now I know why he was following me.**

**PrismRain13: Yeah, Ratcliff is such a rat. And, just to let you guys know, the story I was telling you about last chapter is now up, so I'm really excited about that :) and, I do have a deviantart account, but I haven't done much with it yet. So, probably in the near future I'll be posting some artwork for this and some other stories. This has been your friendly neighbourhood nerd, Prism.**

**(1): Yes, those are their names, I looked them up on the wiki!**


	18. Ripples in the Water

**PrismRain13: Here's the next chapter! I really hope you like this one!**

**Thomas: Please tell me this is going to turn out much better than the movie.**

**PrismRain13: Sorry, my lips are sealed. And, yes I'm still making no money off this and I still own nothing...**

**Thomas: other than the plot and your OC's.**

**PrismRain13: yeah. Enjoy this chapter...**

_**Chapter 17: Ripples in the Water**_

After a long time of running, Pocahontas, Sora and the others had reached Grandmother Willow's tree. Goofy was seen still sitting on the ground, talking with the tree.

"... and then, Maxie came home crying because he said the other kids were making fun of him. But I knew that couldn't be true, because when I was a kid, everyone was jealous of them overalls," both Goofy and Grandmother Willow burst out laughing.

"Was that before or after he got out of the diapers?" the tree asked in between laughs. Max cringed in embarrassment, it was obvious that his dad was sharing his favourite stories from Max's childhood. As soon as Grandmother Willow saw them coming, her voice instantly took a serious tone, "I felt the earth tremble, what's happened?"

"The warriors are here," Kairi panted.

"Pocahontas," a voice spoke from behind them, the group turned around to find John, Riku, West, Lea, Donald and Meeko run towards them. It was John who had spoken, "Listen to me, my men are planning to attack your people," Pocahontas, Sora, Kairi, Mickey, Goofy and Max gasped in shock.

"There has to be something we can do!" Mickey exclaimed.

"You've got to warn them," Lea told Pocahontas.

"Maybe it's not too late to stop this," Pocahontas said to John as she took his hand and tried to pull him to the direction of her village, "You have to come with me and talk to my father," John, however didn't move.

"Pocahontas, talking isn't going to do any good," he told her.

"We already tried talking to John's men," Riku said.

"Yeah, those guys are a bunch of greedy jerks; some more than others," West added while Donald nodded in agreement.

"Exactly, everything about this land has them spooked," John finished. Suddenly, there was a loud, howling noise as the world-travellers cautiously raised their weapons. And then, a short, shadowy creature appeared in the distance.

"A heartless?" Donald asked. He was about to go attack it, when Goofy held him back and the creature moved closer. And then, it clumsily fell to the ground, rolled down the hill, flew into a nearby tree and a dirty, white pug dog with a blue collar fell out, of what was now revealed as a log, and landed into John's arms.

"Percy," John chuckled as he recognized the dog and the world-travellers lowered their weapons in relief. Meeko moved up to the dog and waved. Percy, who didn't see Meeko as a friend, jumped out of John's arms and chased the racoon, barking angrily. "Easy Percy, come on," John said to the dog.

"Meeko, come back," Pocahontas called as she chased after both animals.

"See what I mean?" John told the group, "Once two sides want to fight; nothing can stop them." Kairi and Max followed Pocahontas, and attempted to break up the fighting animals. Kairi grabbed Meeko, while Max grabbed Percy. Even after they had succeeded in catching them, the two animals were still trying to fight each other. Sora and Goofy quickly ran over to help restrain Percy and Meeko, but were still having little to no luck trying to stop the fighting. Flit flew overhead, and amusingly watched the battle progress. However, Flit wasn't laughing long, until Meeko grabbed Flit and was trying to use him like a sword against Percy. This got Percy even angrier as he was barking louder and fighting even more to get away from Sora and Max.

"ALRIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH!" Grandmother Willow boomed angrily, instantly causing everyone to silence, and Percy to faint in Sora's arms. "It's enough to make your sap boil," she grumbled. Sora and Goofy quietly set Percy and Meeko down on the ground; Percy was still in shock from seeing a talking tree, while Meeko moved closer to the dog as an act of comfort. "Now then," the tree spoke in a much calmer tone, "there's something I want to show you, look," Grandmother Willow took one of her vines and dipped it into the water, causing small ripples to appear.

"The ripples," Pocahontas whispered in awe. John looked around the group.

"What about them?" he asked.

"Yeah, there's nothing special about them," Donald grumbled, earning him a smack across the head from one of Grandmother Willow's vines.

"So small at first," the tree explained, "then, look how they grow. But, someone has to start them," even after that, John was still doubtful.

"They're not going to listen to us," he said simply.

"Come on, John," Sora told him as he put a reassuring hand on John's shoulder, "you never know unless you try."

"The young Keyblade master is right, John Smith," Grandmother Willow told John, "Sometimes the right path is not the easiest one."

"Yeah," Kairi agreed as she took both John and Pocahontas's hands, "And, only when this fighting stops, is the only time you guys will get to be together," as she ended her sentence, she placed both of their hands together, and then moved beside Sora. John and Pocahontas looked at each other for a moment, until John spoke again.

"Alright, let's go talk to your father," he said to Pocahontas as she smiled, and then hugged him tightly. John smiled and then returned the hug.

"Isn't that sweet?" West asked Riku, while he blushed. While Goofy covered Max's eyes despite his son's protests. Grandmother Willow smiled warmly while she used her vines to hide Donald, Meeko, Percy, Flit, Mickey and Lea. While Kairi snuggled in close to Sora. Unknown to them, Thomas was hiding in the bushes, his rifle ready to fire and a shocked look on his face. However, before either John or Pocahontas could perform the action of kissing, a horde of large body heartless surrounded them.

"Oh come on!" Lea grumbled as he raised his chackrams, "why is it that every time something good ever happens; you guys show up?" one of the heartless was about to attack John, but Pocahontas blocked the attack with her spear, and Lea and Sora attacked the same heartless from behind. Another heartless did succeed in knocking John to the ground, but then he was quickly healed by Kairi. Before the heartless could hurt John anymore, Donald blasted it with an ice spell and Goofy attacked it with his shield. Riku blasted the heartless with a dark firaga, distracting it long enough for West to steal a few potions and toss one to Riku. West then slashed at the heartless that were trying to attack her, knocking one towards Kairi, who finished it off with a powerful slash from her Keyblade. Lea burned a heartless that was about to attack Sora with a powerful firaga attack, while Mickey summoned several beams of light upon their enemies. Sora attacked the heartless with a wide variety of both physical and magic attacks and Pocahontas jumped down on said enemies and stabbed them with her spear. Max rode around the battle scene on his skateboard, quickly jumping over and dodging attacks, and when one heartless wasn't looking, he ran over the last heartless in the area. As soon as the party was convinced that all the heartless were gone, they all let out long sighs of relief.

"Well, I'm glad that's over," John sighed. However, he spoke too soon; a shadow heartless appeared out of the ground and lunged towards John.

"Look out!" Mickey exclaimed. John turned around just in time to see the heartless flying towards him. But then a gunshot was heard the heartless was destroyed a second later. However, the bullet also hit Sora; a scratch across the shoulder. Sora howled in pain as he grasped his wounded shoulder. Kairi, Riku, Donald and Goofy quickly ran over to him. And, out of the bushes, Thomas ran out with his rifle in hand, revealing him to be the one who had fired the bullet.

"Thomas!" John gasped, shocked to find that his friend had followed him and had injured another friend.

"Did I..." Thomas whispered the shock still present on his face.

"You shot him!" Pocahontas screamed before Thomas could finish his sentence, "Why would you do that?"

"I was trying to shoot the..." Thomas tried to explain, but again failed to finish what he was trying to say when Pocahontas ran to him in a fit of rage, Lea and John trying to hold her back.

"He shot him!" Pocahontas screamed while trying to wriggle out of Lea and John's grasps.

"Pocahontas, I'm okay," Sora said in an attempt to calm the native down.

"Thomas didn't mean it," John told her, but even that couldn't make her stop her struggling. Just then, the sound of a number of native soldiers coming closer to them caused everyone to stop and listen. Finally, John spoke up, "Thomas, get out of here!" John yelled at him. When the young man didn't move, John spoke again, "Get out of here!" seeing the anger in John, Thomas ran off without another word. Not long after Thomas left, at least seven warriors from the Powhatan tribe ran in front of the group. Two of them quickly restrained John without question. While the others looked curiously at the world-travellers.

"That injured young man has spoken with the chief, but what of the others?" one asked, indicating the wounded Sora. Another warrior pointed to Riku, West, Lea and Donald.

"I have seen those four talking with the white invaders! They must be in league with them! Apprehend them!" and, with that said, the four remaining warriors quickly grabbed a hold of the four that had tried to negotiate with Ratcliffe.

"Whoa! Hey! Watch the tail!" Donald quacked as he was restrained the same way as John had.

"Come on! We're not bad guys; you don't have to attack us!" Lea exclaimed.

"If you'd just listen," Riku tried to say, but was soon cut off by his attacker,

"Silence!" Riku's attacker snapped. West was about to open her mouth to say something, but before she could, her attacker covered her mouth with his hand, and then, the five of them were roughly dragged off to the tribe. Pocahontas and the remaining world-travellers couldn't do anything, except watch in shock.

"We have to go save them!" Sora said as he tried to stand while grasping his shoulder.

"But, if we do try anything, it could threaten the world order," Mickey pointed out.

"We have to at least try," Pocahontas told the group as she ran off in the direction the warriors had dragged their friends off to. Goofy and Max supported Sora on both sides and helped him to his feet.

"Come on, let's go!" Kairi exclaimed as she led the party after Pocahontas and to their captive friends. Meanwhile, Percy, Meeko and Flit were still hiding. Meeko and Flit carefully crawled out of their hiding place, but Percy remained there, shivering in fear. Meeko noticed that the pampered dog wasn't moving and crawled back to comfort him. The racoon placed a paw on Percy's shoulder as an act of comfort and the dog slowly relaxed and finally no longer saw the racoon and humming bird as enemies. Percy smiled and slowly followed Meeko and Flit to the Powhatan tribe.

~*KHIII*~

When the warriors arrived at the Powhatan tribe with their prisoners, the chief and the rest of the tribe members looked on with question.

"What is the meaning of this?" Chief Powhatan demanded.

"Pocahontas was out in the woods with the travellers. When we got there, the dark shadows were attacking them. These invaders summoned them and had injured the brown-haired young man!" Lea's captor explained.

"We didn't summon them! We're trying to stop them!" West tried to explain, but her captor covered her mouth again.

"This one is full of lies," her captor said to the chief.

"Leave her alone; she's been through enough!" Riku exclaimed, but went ignored. Chief Powhatan walked towards them with his spear in hand.

"Your weapons are strong, but now are anger is stronger!" the chief boomed, "At sunrise, they will be the first to die!"

"WHAT?" Donald quacked, "I can't die yet! I still have to ask Daisy to marry me!" the protests of the five people went ignored as they were dragged off to a nearby tent. Just as Pocahontas, Sora, Kairi, Mickey, Max and Goofy had arrived.

"But father-" Pocahontas pleaded. The Chief looked angrily at his daughter.

"I told you to stay in the village! You disobeyed me! You have shamed your father!" he roared.

"She was only trying to help!" Kairi told him in a defensive tone.

"Because of your foolishness," he gestured towards Sora, "This young man has been severely injured!" the chief turned away from his daughter and walked back towards the village. Pocahontas looked to the ground sadly while Kairi put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Then, Nakoma walked towards them.

"Pocahontas, I sent the warriors after you," Nakoma confessed, "I was worried about you. I thought I was doing the right thing."

"Nakoma, you did do the right thing," Mickey told her, "It's what a true friend would do." Pocahontas, however, shook her head.

"All this happened because of me," she said sadly, "and now we'll never see them again."

"Don't talk like that!" Sora exclaimed, "We will see them again! Things will turn out alright in the end!"

"Sora's right!" Goofy agreed, "We didn't spend all that time looking for Riku, just to have him and Donald and everyone else get taken away again!"

"We'll think of something," Max nodded.

~*KHIII*~

"Help! Help!" Thomas ran screaming the moment he arrived back at the fort. Ben and Lon, who had heard him, looked over the edge.

"Easy lad, what is it?" Lon asked the frantic young man.

"It's Smith!" Thomas yelled as he ran into the fort, awakening the rest of the settlers, "They've got him!"

"Who's got him?" Ben asked with concern.

"The savages! They've captured him, Riku, West, Lea and Donald!" Thomas panicked, "They dragged them off!"

"Where'd they take 'em?" Ben demanded.

"They headed north!" Thomas told the group of settlers. Now, they were all panicking and shouting at each other at the same time. "We've got to save them! John would do the same for any of us! And the travellers were helping him; we can't let them die too!" Thomas spoke with power.

"Thomas is right! We've got to do something! Those lads and that lass did so much already, they cannot suffer for this!" Ben agreed.

"And so we will!" the group of settlers turned to find Ratcliffe standing proudly in front of his tent, "I told you those savages couldn't be trusted! Smith tried to befriend them and look what they've done to him! Not only did they drag Smith off, but they've also imprisoned innocent travellers! But, now I say it's time to rescue our courageous comrade and his friends! We attack!" the settlers cheered and hurried to gather their weapons and prepare for battle; the Indians doing the same on the other side of the world.

**PrismRain13: Why can't you guys just try and resolve stuff peacefully?**

**Thomas: I didn't really have much say in what happened; everyone always listened to Ratcliffe.**

**PrismRain13: Why would you even listen to the jerk?**

**Thomas: he was sort of the Governor to the king and he was in charge of the entire operation.**

**PrismRain13: ...yeah, I guess that would make stuff difficult. Well, anyway, still open to suggestions on how this could turn out and please leave a review! PRETTY PLEASE! It really makes me happy! This has been your friendly neighbourhood nerd, Prism. The Odd Duo; aww... that sucks :( I like Agrahbah too. Hopefully Rachel and Caz will forgive you! Inkheartwarrior: PLEASE, PLEASE don't abandon me! I like your suggestions!**


	19. The Drums of War

**PrismRain13: Well, here's the last chapter of the **_**Wilds of America.**_** (Thanks to Aguamenta for the name!)**

**Ratcliffe: I'd like to point out that yes; this is how my name is spelt.**

**PrismRain13: Not now, you jerk. Right now I'd like to make something clear; the natives didn't capture John, Riku and the others just because Sora got shot. They captured them because they think that they summoned the heartless and that they think Riku, West, Lea and Donald are in league with the settlers. Just clearing that up...**

**Ratcliffe: Indeed... PrismRain13 does not claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or anything else she decides to use. The theme song; **_**Final Distance**_** belongs to Utada Hikaru. She only owns the plot and her original characters.**

_**Chapter 18: The Drums of War**_

John, Riku, West, Lea and Donald were tightly bound to a strong wooden pole in a small tent. Two muscular natives were guarding the entrance, and the rest of the warriors were preparing for battle. No one had said much since they were thrown in. Riku had tried to summon Way to Dawn, but there wasn't enough room for him to do much. Donald turned to Lea.

"Can't you just burn the ropes?" he quacked. Lea shook his head.

"Not unless you want to get scorched," the group sighed in defeat and silence returned, until John turned to West.

"Do you still have your knife?" he asked the thief.

"Yeah, but it's in my pouch and I can't reach it," she grumbled, "Any other ideas?"

"We can't give up now," Riku spoke up, "There are still people out there that need our help; we can't let the heartless win! Keep thinking!"

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, Pocahontas, Sora and the remaining world-travellers along with Percy, Flit and Meeko were back at Grandmother Willow's tree. The group had just finished explaining what had happened to the elderly tree.

"They're going to kill them at sunrise," Pocahontas cried.

"You've got to stop them!" the tree exclaimed.

"We've tried talking to them, what else can we do?" Max asked. Suddenly, Sora let out a yelp of pain when Kairi touched a tender spot on his wound.

"Can't you just use cure on that?" Goofy asked the princess as he moved to sit next to the spiky-haired teenager.

"I already tried," Kairi told him, "It won't work unless I take the bullet out, and I don't know to do that without making it worse."

"It doesn't look like any ordinary bullet," Mickey observed, "I think I've seen one of these before; they prevent magic from being used around them!"

"But, what would Thomas be doin' with a bullet like that?" Goofy asked the king.

"I don't know, Goofy," Mickey sighed. The group looked back at Pocahontas, who still looked like she was about to cry.

"Pocahontas, you have to help us stop them," Sora said to the native.

"I can't," Pocahontas sobbed.

"Child," Grandmother Willow spoke in a reassuring tone, "Remember your dream,"

"I was wrong, Grandmother Willow!" she snapped unexpectedly, "I followed the wrong path! I feel so lost..." Meeko looked sadly at his long-time friend and climbed up the tree. Kairi sat next to the native girl and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, while Percy rubbed himself against her legs.

"This isn't over Pocahontas," Kairi told her, "It's not." When Meeko came back down, he was holding a small, round object against his chest, and then handed it to Pocahontas. Pocahontas took it from Meeko and looked at it.

"What's that?" Sora questioned as Goofy wrapped a bandage around his injured shoulder (it didn't look half as good as Aerith would have done, but it would do).

"The compass," Pocahontas murmured. She looked at it for a few minutes. Over time, her eyes widened, as if she was noticing something about the object for the first time, "The spinning arrow," she realized.

"It's the arrow from your dream!" Grandmother Willow exclaimed.

"So you were supposed to meet John! There's still a chance!" Max realized as Pocahontas nodded in excitement. Just then, the group looked towards the east and saw what would be the signal of their friend's deaths.

"Sunrise," Pocahontas gasped.

"It's not too late!" Mickey told her, "We can still save them!" The arrow on the compass kept spinning, and spinning, until suddenly, it stopped. Pointing to the direction of the Tribe.

"You know your path child," Grandmother Willow spoke strongly, "Now follow it!" and with that, the party of six took off without another word.

~*KHIII*~

Just as the sun rose over the world, John, Riku, West, Donald and Lea were being pulled out of the tent, and were now being dragged separately to their doom. They were all trying desperately to get away, but couldn't . Only Lea didn't struggle, he seemed to be forming a plan in his mind. He turned to the guard that was holding him and smirked.

"Hey, dude," he said, the guard looked at the ex-nobody with an annoyed and tired look in his eyes, "Quick question; what do you think your chances of getting rid of us right now would be?" the guard was about to answer the red-head, but before he could, roaring flames engulfed Lea's wrists, burning his bonds and earning a shocked look from his guard. As soon as he was free, Lea summoned his chackrams and knocked his guard to the ground, "I tell you; zero." The rest of the guards were so shocked, that they didn't expect Lea to come running at them, chackrams in hand and attacking the natives and cutting the ropes on the other's wrists with the sharp part of his weapon. One of the warriors was about to attack the flame-haired man with a spear, but was blocked by Riku's Keyblade. One warrior quickly notified the others that they were escaping by using some kind of native call, and more warriors quickly appeared with weapons ready.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, Sora, Kairi, Pocahontas and the rest of their group were running as fast as they could to where their friends were being held.

"We're never gonna make it," Max panted, Kairi, however, wasn't willing to give up so easily.

"Yes we are!" She snapped and looked at Sora and Mickey, who both seemed to understand what she was talking about.

"Mark of Mastery!" the three of them shouted and they were engulfed by a blinding white light. When the light faded, seconds later, all three of them were dressed in their armour. Sora and Kairi's armour still looked the same as when they had first received it from Master Yen Sid, only Sora's injured shoulder seemed to have more protection around it. Mickey's armour was coloured red and yellow with small touches of black and white, his helmet fitted him perfectly and more protection surrounding his ears. They three Keyblade masters threw their keyblades up in the air, allowing them to transform into their Keyblade Gliders. The tree of them each took a passenger (Pocahontas rode with Sora, Goofy with Mickey and Max with Kairi), then flew to their destination.

~*KHIII*~

West frantically ducked an attack from a native warrior, causing him to attack one of his own by mistake, then slashed his arm with her knife. Donald fired a thunder spell at a native that was about to attack John, and a blizzard spell at another. John, Lea and Riku stood back to back as they were quickly surrounded.

"I don't think we're making our point very clear," John told the world-travellers.

"You're worried about that now?" Lea questioned as he just barely blocked an attack. The natives were over whelming them now, and since the world-travellers didn't want to threaten world order any further, there wasn't much they could do when the natives had captured John again and were dragging him to where Chief Powhatan was waiting with a dangerous-looking club.

"Oh, no you don't!" West shouted. She was about to throw her knife at the warriors holding John down, but before she could do anything, Pocahontas, Sora, Kairi, Mickey, Goofy and Max leaped out of nowhere, while Pocahontas placed herself protectively in front of John and shouted;

"NO!" time seemed to stand still as the Chief looked at his daughter in shock and both sides made no move to go further. "If you kill him, you'll have to kill me too," the native princess spoke with no hesitation and with power in her voice.

"Daughter, stand back!" Her father ordered.

"I won't! I love him, father," the chief looked as though this was something he never expected to hear from her. The settlers and the natives looked at each other with confusion. Sora assumed the settlers must have understood what Pocahontas had said, seeing as how Thomas had his mouth opened wide in shock. Riku easily left the side of the natives who were trying to apprehend him and spoke to Chief Powhatan.

"Take a good look around, you sir," Riku told him, "Is this really what you want?"

"This is where the path of hatred has brought us!" Pocahontas added, then wrapped her arms around the captive John affectionately, "This is the path I choose, father, what will yours be?"

"It doesn't have to be this way," Kairi added as she and the rest of their team moved to stand together. Chief Powhatan gazed out at the scene before him, both his tribe and the settlers, weapons ready to fire at any moment and with an intense amount on hatred in their eyes. Finally he looked down at his daughter and the white man; she looked so protective and loving towards him. As the wind blew towards him, he raised his club in the air and spoke to his people.

"My daughter and her friends speak with the wisdom beyond their years; we have all come here with anger in our hearts! But they come with courage and understanding! From this day forward, if there is to be more killing, it will not start with me." Pocahontas beamed with happiness up at her father, while he turned to a nearby guard, "release him," the guard nodded and cut John's bonds with a sharp rock. As soon as he was free, John embraced Pocahontas in a tight, loving, embrace. Nakoma and the world-travellers looked on happily as weapons lowered. Kairi turned to Sora.

"They really do look happy together," she said to him, while Sora nodded and placed an arm around her shoulders. Meanwhile, Ratcliffe seemed to be even more intent on fighting, he stepped forward and raised a black sword.

"Now's our chance!" he exclaimed, "Fire!"

"No," Thomas injected, "they let him go,"

"They don't want to fight," Ben added.

"It's a trick!" Ratcliffe roared in a desperate attempt to start the fighting again, "Don't you see? Fire!" However, none of his men made any attempt to follow his orders. Frustrated, Ratcliffe grabbed Thomas's gun and aimed it at the Chief, "Fine, I'll do it myself!" but, before he could shoot, he felt something push him from behind and knock him to the ground. The Governor looked up to find Donald sitting on him, assuming it was him who had knocked him to the ground. He then looked in front of him and saw Riku, Sora, Kairi, Pocahontas, West and Goofy standing in front of him with their arms crossed. John, Max, Mickey and Lea were standing protectively in front of Chief Powhatan. Ratcliffe cringed.

"Is that really all you can think of, yourself?" Pocahontas questioned. Ratcliffe looked desperately between Riku, West and Donald.

"Rick, Lest, Ronald, come now. Surely the three of you must see the trickery these savages play?"

"Sorry, but we see something a little more important than gold!" Donald quacked, while mentally he was diving into a swimming pool full of money, while Daisy was sitting there waving at him in her bathing suit (1). Ratcliffe growled and took advantage of the state Donald was in and jumped to his feet. He raised his sword as it coated itself in darkness and a few shadow heartless appeared around him.

"So, you were controlling the heartless the whole time!" Sora exclaimed.

"Indeed, young man," Ratcliffe growled as his opponents raised their weapons.

"Then, why'd ya attack yer own crew?" Goofy questioned.

"Well, I had to make it seem the savages were trying to be rid of us, didn't I?" Ratcliffe replied in a snobbish tone.

"That word is really starting to make me angry!" Pocahontas roared as she and the rest ran to attack Ratcliffe. Ratcliffe swung his blade in Pocahontas's direction, but was quickly blocked by Sora. Ratcliffe, clearly seeing Sora as injured picked him out as an easy target. He rapidly fired hundreds of orbs of darkness at the young Keyblade Master, making it very difficult for Sora to block so many attacks, along with his injury becoming even more painful. Kairi fought alongside him and tried to reduce the amount of attacks being sent towards him by stepping in front of him and firing orbs of light at Ratcliffe. West, meanwhile, creeped up behind Ratcliffe. Since his attention was directed towards Sora and Pocahontas and Donald, Goofy, and Riku were busy with the heartless. The thief quickly reached into the Governor's back pocket and pulled out the first thing she could get her hands on. Then, she moved back beside Sora and Pocahontas and looked at what she had stolen from Ratcliffe; it wasn't a potion, in fact she had no idea what it was. It was a small glass bottle containing oily grey liquid.

"Oh, come on, what a rip off," West groaned, but pocketed the bottle anyway and attacked Ratcliffe with quick slashes with her knife. Finally, Ratcliffe succeeded in hitting Pocahontas as she fell to the ground. But, the Governor was soon attacked from behind by Riku. Followed by a blizzard spell from Donald. Kairi quickly ran over to the native's aid and raised Destiny's Embrace.

"Cure!" she said as a green light surrounded Pocahontas as her wounds healed. Pocahontas rose back up to her feet as she raised her spear and she and Ratcliffe locked eyes.

"Voices of the Mountain!" Pocahontas shouted as multiple multi-coloured leaves blew in the wind around her and she appeared to be floating a little in the air. She flew towards Ratcliffe and her spear seemed to move on its own and attack him. The wind surrounding Pocahontas caught the Governor and caused him to whirl rapidly, and then be thrown into the ground. Pocahontas then gathered together all the wind and leaves into one hand and grabbed her spear in the other. Then she directed the wind at Ratcliffe, "Paint with all the colors of the wind!" the wind in Pocahontas's hand fired itself at Ratcliffe in a powerful blow, sending the Governor slamming back into a nearby tree (2). Ratcliffe panted heavily as his dark sword disappeared, a clear sign to the world-travellers that he had been defeated. The settlers stood over their former leader with angry looks in their eyes, and with multiple ignored protests from Ratcliffe, he was quickly apprehended by his own crew. Sora turned to Pocahontas,

"Nice work back there," he congradulated. The seven who had defeated Ratcliffe cheered in victory along with the natives and settlers. Chief Powhatan walked down from his position on the cliff, followed by John, Lea, Max and Mickey. The Chief turned to the world-travellers,

"I must apologize for the way I treated some of you, you will always be welcome around our people, thank you," he said in gratitude.

"No hard feelings, dude," Lea said. The Chief then turned to John,

"To you, I believe I owe a great deal of dept, had it not been for you and my daughter, there would be a great war now." John sighed in amusement and held out his hand, the Chief looked at it with uncertainty.

"You shake it," John explained. West sighed in relief and pulled out the bottle she had stolen from Ratcliffe and looked at it with curiosity.

"What's that, West?" Max asked her when he saw the bottle.

"I dunno," the thief admitted, "I swiped it from Ratcliffe. To be honest I was hoping for a potion," Mickey moved to look at what she had collected, and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Ratcliffe had _that _on him?" Mickey questioned.

"Yeah, what's the big deal about it?" West asked.

"That's an antidote!" Mickey exclaimed, "That's the only way known to heal wounds from an anti-magic bullet!"

"So, I'm guessing the Rat did replace the bullets in the guns, and kept the only known cure to himself," Kairi realized. West uncorked the bottle and removed the bandages around Sora's shoulder. Then, with a few drops of the grey liquid, the bullet fell out of Sora's shoulder and healed. Sora moved his shoulder a few times, and clearly stated that it felt as though the injury hadn't even been there at all. West, then pocketed the antidote, thinking it may come in handy later. Pocahontas turned to John and pulled out the compass,

"I think this belongs to you," she said, but before John could touch it, the compass began to glow and flew into the sky. Knowing what was happening, Sora turned to Mickey,

"Care to do the honours?" he asked the king.

"With pleasure," Mickey nodded. He summoned Star Seeker and pointed it in front of him as the tip of the Keyblade began to glow and a glowing crown emblem appeared underneath his feet. As the compass floated there, a beam of light shot out from it, and created a keyhole in the sky. Mickey pointed Star Seeker at the keyhole, as a beam of light shot into the keyhole and unlocking the next gate. When the light died down, the world's inhabitants looked on in amazement.

"What was that?" Thomas asked.

"It means it's time for us to go," Riku replied. John turned to Sora,

"Keep up the great work, kid," he said as he and Sora high-fived, and then Pocahontas moved to hug the spiky-haired boy.

"I hope to hear from all of you soon," she smiled.

"Knowing us, you'll be friends for life!" Sora beamed, and with their final goodbyes, they moved on to the next world.

**PrismRain13: another long chapter. What world will be next? Just a quick question, here; for the next chapter, would you guys like me to have our heroes go to the next world, or would you like to see how the villains are doing? Or a combo? You pick! Seriously, though guys, I love the feedback! Please review *insert kitty eyes here*.**

**Ratcliffe: This is absurd! Why did you allow me to be defeated, yet not allow that fool, Smith to get shot!**

**PrismRain13: I think that's pretty self-explanatory. Inkheartwarrior, again, thanks for the suggestions, I really like them but I won't be able to use everything you throw at me :( and, the reason I didn't have John get shot is because I really didn't like the second Pocahontas movie, and I really can't see myself using it in the future... plus this just seemed like how stuff goes in the KH universe. The Odd Duo; that really sucks, I like Agrahbah... hopefully Grumpy doesn't find out you were in their house. Bearybeary; yep, looks like you were right :D This has been your friendly neighbourhood nerd! And by the way, there is sort of a prequel to this story posted on my profile, and that I really need help on, so if you have time, please check that out?**

** (1): Sorry, I just couldn't resist the Donald X Daisy fluff.**

** (2): Pocahontas's limit; **_**Colors of the Wind.**_


	20. Points of View

**PrismRain13: Sorry this took so long :(**

**West: So, what took so long?**

**PrismRain13: Halloween, homework, and a bunch of other stuff... now, West the disclaimer please?**

**West: Awesome! I finally get to do this! PrismRain13, does not claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney, the theme song, **_**Final Distance**_** belongs to Utada Hikaru. She does, however own the plot and her OC's, like me!**

_**Chapter 19: Points of View **_

Hope sat on the white bed of his new room. Judging by the nobody emblem at the head of the bed, he assumed it used to be the room of one of the former members of the Organization. Looking out the window, he could see the stars or worlds shining brightly. Hope sighed and ran his fingers through his silver hair.

"Mom..." Hope sighed, "Am I doing the right thing?" the young boy flopped down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. He lay there for awhile until he felt a few bumps under the sheets. Hope sat back up and moved the sheets back, revealing several small colourful seashells. He gathered them all in one pile and picked them up, "whose room was this?" Hope wondered out loud as he walked over to the desk with a calendar and a grey journal and placed the shells on the desk. He then picked up the journal, sat back on the bed and opened the first page.

_After seven days of clinging to a number and a name, I had trouble processing anything else. I couldn't have told you who the people in the black coats were, or what they wanted with me._

Hope looked inside the front cover of the journal, where _No. XIII, Roxas _was written. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and a young man in a long black coat with dirty blond hair done up in a mullet walked in.

"You mind if I crash on the floor?" he asked, "All the other rooms are full,"

"Go ahead," Hope nodded. The young man closed the door behind him, carrying a few blankets. He threw them down on the floor, and began fixing his make-shift bed.

"Can't believe Saïx - Isa - whatever is name is now gave my room away to that Doofinshmirtz guy," he grumbled, "He gets to keep his old room, but not me,"

"You used to live here?" Hope asked.

"Yeah," the young man nodded, "I was part of Organization XIII. Until we all faded, then next thing I know I wake up in this dark place with my heart back, then I used a corridor of darkness to come back here. Then Xigbar - Braig - whatever found me. I don't think I got your name,"

"It's Hope," the boy replied.

"Nice to meet ya, Hope, I'm Demyx. But I really guess it's Myde now," Myde waved his hands in front of him and a bubble of water appeared. Then, the water materialized into a light blue sitar. "You mind if I play?" Hope motioned for him to go on, and Myde began to strum a few cords, while Hope continued to look through the journal. After a few minutes, Hope turned to Myde.

"Was there anyone named 'Roxas' in this Organization?" he asked.

"Yeah," Myde nodded as he continued to play, "He was the youngest in the group. Acted like a zombie most of the time when he first showed up," Hope nodded as they both looked over at the pile of seashells, "Can't remember where he got all those seashells though," There was another knock at the door and a slender black-haired woman in a red dress.

"Maleficent's calling a meeting, so I'd get moving, boys," she laughed then walked away. Myde grumbled, and then rose back up to his feet.

"That Gothel lady's really starting to bug me," He groaned as he and Hope walked out of the room towards the meeting hall.

~*KHIII*~

A little while later, Maleficent and the group of people she had recruited were standing in the new meeting hall; a dark stone room with a long table with a red table cloth and a crystal chandelier on the roof.

"At this very moment," Maleficent spoke, "Sora and his team are nearing a new world, Pete and Mortimer will go down there now." She turned to her two goons, "I trust that this mission will be more successful?" She glared.

"Yes ma'am," Pete barely managed to squeak.

"Then move!" the witch snapped, and both Pete and Mortimer ran off without another word. Maleficent then turned to Myde, "Have you found any other members of your Organization?"

"Don't look at me lady!" Myde said in defence, "I only do recon!" A black-haired woman in a black and green jumpsuit rolled her eyes.

"I'm starting to wonder how a lazy couch potato like you got into this Organization," she grumbled. Isa stepped forward,

"I have been searching, and I can tell you that a few members have gained their hearts back. And the few that I have spoken are considering joining us. Yet, there is still no sign of Xehanort," he said respectfully. Maleficent nodded her understanding,

"Excellent work, Isa," the witch replied, "let me know when these former members have made their decisions." She then turned to the rest of the group. "I would advise all of you to keep an eye on your worlds and make sure that when you meet the Keybearers that you are the strongest."

~*KHIII*~

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Leon, now known as Squall asked as he stood leaned up against the doorway to Kyra's room, while Kyra packed a small backpack while Rusty sat on the bed and watched.

"I've been on my own for eight years, I think I can take care of myself," Kyra replied as she swung the backpack over her shoulder and Rusty jumped of the bed, "I'll be back in a few days, around the same time Sora and the others get back. Besides, why are you worried about me? You let West go off with Sora and the others," Squall sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I trust Sora and his friends; I'm confident that they'll take care of her," he replied.

"I think that's where we disagree," Kyra said as she, Rusty and the gunblade wielder walked into the hall, "They're all okay except for snowy-locks," realizing that she was referring to Riku, Squall stared at her. "Lulu told me that he used to work for Maleficent, then dragged West into it,"

"Maybe more went on than you know about," Squall suggested.

"Yeah, that's what I thought about Luke," Kyra grumbled, before Squall could ask who that was, Kyra interrupted him, "My older brother; he's been working with that witch ever since we lost our world. I don't know what happened to him before Riku showed up. Guess the witch picked Riku up cuz she needed a new lapdog." Squall stepped in front of the warrior and crossed his arms.

"You can't assume that Riku and Luke are evil just because they followed Maleficent's orders; there has to be more there."

~*KHIII*~

The gummi ship landed on the next world, and then the nine world-travellers appeared on land. The space surrounding them looked like a giant kid's room with dark green carpet, brown walls decorated with posters and a door with several locks.

"It's like Wonderland all over again," Donald grumbled, taking notice of how small they were compared to the rest of the space.

"Tell me about it; the people there were so annoying," Riku nodded. Sora turned to his friend,

"You were at Wonderland?" Sora asked.

"Yeah," Riku replied, "Where did you think Alice disappeared to?"

"Gawrsh that was you?" Goofy asked as Riku nodded.

_**"Toy World"**_

Sora looked around the space again, finally noticing all the disturbing things in the room; toy parts lying around, a lava lamp containing a doll head and broken legs that could have been part of the same doll. It sent a chill down Sora's spine. It was Lea, however who voiced his thoughts.

"Does anyone think that this isn't just any little kid's room?" He asked.

"I admit, it does feel a little creepy," Mickey admitted, "But we won't know for sure until we look around." The group of nine looked around the giant bedroom for any signs of the heartless, nobodies or anyone who could be living on this world. Kairi grabbed a giant flashlight and shined it under the desk and saw a bald, moving baby's head that she assumed was connected to a body.

"Hi there, little guy," she said in a soothing voice, "What are you doing down there? Come on out, do you think you can help me and my friends out?" The baby head began to move towards the princess of heart. And when it finally came back into the light, it was revealed to have metal spider-like legs and only one eye. It stared at Kairi before it began to move closer and closer to her.

"Kairi stay back!" Sora shouted as he stepped protectively in front of her. Suddenly, more altered toys began to appear out of the shadows and walk towards a doll and taradactel toys that had both lost their heads. But, as soon as toy-like heartless appeared out of the ground, the meddled with toys grabbed what they were looking for and ran back to hiding places. The heartless took on many forms of broken toys; jack-in-the-boxes, bouncy balls and slinky toys. The group joined in together in one group and raised their weapons. They were just about to head into battle, until two voices came from the desk,

"To infinity and beyond!" and then, a glow-in-the-dark space action figure jumped down and pointed his arm at the heartless, "Not to worry, citizens, I've been trained by the galactic alliance. I've set my laser from stun to kill!" then, the toy fired a blinking red light at a jack-in-the-box heartless. It didn't seem to do much except temporarily blind the heartless, so it didn't see it when Max scratched the front of it with his skateboard.

"Idiot! You're a toy!" another voice shouted as a cowboy doll with a pull string on his back jumped down from the desk and landed on the carpet. A bouncy ball heartless was just about to attack the cowboy, but then it was destroyed by Mickey's Keyblade. The cowboy then attacked a nearby heartless threw his hat at another like a Frisbee. West climbed onto a bouncy ball and after a few failed attempts of trying to knock her off, she stabbed it with her knife, deflating it. The space action figure fired his light at the heartless, but it still didn't do much other than temporarily blind them, he kept grumbling to himself on why it couldn't be working properly. Sora, Riku and Lea took advantage of the heartless being blinded by attacking them with powerful blows. Kairi fired several orbs of light at the slinky heartless while Donald cast thunder spells. With only one heartless left, Goofy and the cowboy both threw their weapons at the same time, causing the heartless to howl in pain and disappear. The space toy moved to his arm and opened up a flap.

"Buzz Lightyear to Star Command, it appears those black creatures have attacked once again; first pizza planet, now here. My laser does not seem to be working, but the sheriff and I have met a group of young warriors who defeated the creatures with ease," the cowboy growled and yelled at the space toy,

"WOULD YOU JUST STOP THAT? IT'S GETTING ON MY NERVES!" Lea walked up to the cowboy and pulled him away from Buzz.

"Woah, dude, chill," he said as the cowboy seemed to calm down a little.

"Thanks for taking care of those, I thought you guys would be toast," the cowboy said.

"No problem," Sora smiled as he placed his hands behind his head, "We're just doing our job. So, who are you guys?"

"I'm Woody," the cowboy replied then glared at the space toy, "And, that's Buzz; he thinks he's a real space ranger." The group of nine introduced themselves, then asked where they were, "This is Sid's room; the worst place for a toy to be," Woody sighed.

"I thought a kid's room was where toys were supposed to be," Max said as Woody shook his head.

"Sid isn't just any kid, he tortures toys for fun!"

"Which is why we have to stop him and get back to Andy!" Buzz said.

"Are you crazy?" Woody snapped, "It's against the rules for toys to move in front of people!" but, before the group could ask any more questions, footsteps were heard from outside the door, "Oh no, it's Sid! Quick, hide!" asking no further questions, the group including Buzz hid in the shadows under the desk.

"Oh, come on, this Sid can't be that bad!" Sora didn't know how wrong he was...

**PrismRain13: Again, sorry this took so long, hopefully this chappie will make up for it.**

**West: My fingers are crossed.**

**PrismRain13: Bearybeary, sorry but I don't think I'm going to be able to fit that world in :( plus I've never actually seen it. InkheartWarrior, I can't really answer anything about Kyra and Rusty since they're not my characters; they belong to MysteryGirl I just got permission to use them. Thanks for your input though! And judging from the review sent from the Odd Duo from **_**Maleficent's Horcruxes**_**, It sounds like help might be needed. West, go find out what's going on and help them!**

**West: I'm on it! *gets in gummi ship and flies away***

**PrismRain13: I hope she knows how to fly that thing...**


	21. You Are a Toy, You Can't Fly!

**Woody: Why did you have to make me seem like a crazy person last chapter?**

**PrismRain13: Because that's basically how you acted the entire first movie.**

**Woody: Did not!**

**PrismRain13: Did too! **

**Woody: ...I'm not in the mood to argue with you right now. Prism owns nothing other than the plot and her OC's. The theme song, **_**Final Distance **_**belongs to Utada Hikaru.**

_**Chapter 20: You are a Toy, You Can't Fly!**_

Sora and the gang hid under the desk in Sid's room for what felt like hours, watching the young boy torture a number of different toys. Buzz kept looking down at the fake communicator on his arm, trying to get in touch with Star Command. Finally, he left the room when his mom called him down for breakfast. He left the door wide open, something Woody noticed immediately.

"The door! It's open we're free!" the cowboy exclaimed as he happily ran towards their only means of escape.

"But, Woody we don't know what's out there!" Sora said as he and the group ran after the cowboy. Suddenly, all of Sid's damaged toys came out of the shadows and surrounded the group, and blocking their way to the door. Woody screamed in fear and hid behind Sora and Buzz.

"They're gonna eat us!" Woody screamed, "Buzz! Sora! Do something quick!"

"Shield your eyes!" Buzz ordered and most of the group complied. Then, he pressed a button on his arm and the same red light flashed in front of the damaged toys, who looked at each other in confusion, "It's not working, I recharged it before I left..."

"Idiot! You're a toy!" Woody shouted as soon as Buzz started rambling. And then he started pressing a large purple button on Buzz's back and his arm started moving up and down. "Use your karate chop action!" Woody then started pushing Buzz in front of the toys, making his arm chop in their faces at the same time. The world travellers followed the two toys cautiously and eyed Sid's toys with nervousness.

"Don't mind us," Donald quacked nervously, "Just passing through,"

"Yeah," West nodded while she stood close to Riku, "We _really_ don't taste that good," Woody kept dragging Buzz, ignoring the space ranger's annoyed protests until the group reached the open door.

"Sorry guys but dinner's cancelled!" Woody snapped as he let go of Buzz and ran for his life into the hallway. But, no sooner had the cowboy reached the head of the staircase was he instantly stopped by a large mean-looking white dog with brown spots and wearing a spiky collar. This was Sid's dog; Scud and he growled with its teeth barred. The dog was about to attack Woody, but was blocked by Lea's flying weapons. The World-travellers plus Buzz stepped protectively in front of Woody and raised their weapons.

"Stay back everyone, I'll teach this mutt a lesson!" Buzz ordered as he raised his arm. But, before the space ranger could do anything, Scud hit Buzz with his paw and sent him flying into the wall, causing Buzz to fall unconscious.

"Gawrsh, that is one big dog," Goofy said nervously. Scud must have understood what Goofy had said because he was the first one the dog attacked. Goofy raised his shield in front of him protectively, and managed to reduce damage to himself done by Scud's claws. Max rode around on his skateboard between Scud's legs which seemed to confuse the dog long enough for Goofy and Lea to land in a few attacks to his snout. Scud growled in irritation at the two who were currently attacking him, but didn't notice Sora and Kairi jump on his back and send multiple blows to the back of his head. As soon as Scud became aware of what Sora and Kairi were doing, he started trying to shake them off by shaking, biting and kicking. As a desperate attempt to hang on, Sora grabbed Scud's collar and Kairi grabbed hold of Sora's waist. Donald waved his staff, firing a ball of fire at Scud's tail. While West jumped up to Scud's snout and gave him a deep cut directly across the nose. Riku stayed at a safe distance and fired small orbs of dark firaga at Scud's snout, followed by Mickey firing orbs of light. Now, it was becoming harder for Sora and Kairi to hang on, as the princess let out a terrified shriek and increased her grip around Sora's waist. Woody knew that Sora and Kairi weren't going to be able to hold on for much longer, so he ran right in front of Scud, pulled his pull string and began waving it around like a lasso.

"Yee-haw! Howdy partner!" Woody shouted as the pull string wrapped itself around Scud's snout. Scud struggled, but it distracted him long enough for Sora and Kairi to jump off of the dog's back. The pull string was strong enough to hold Scud still while Woody took off his hat and threw it at the dog's snout, causing Scud major damage. Woody then released the pull string, but Scud was in too much pain to do anything. Then, the cowboy attacked Scud multiple times with his pull string, it behaving like a whip. Woody then tipped his hat to his opponent and jumped right in front of Scud's weak spot and attacked Scud with rapid movements from his pull string, "Play nice!" then, as a final blow, Woody kicked Scud with the sharp end of his cowboy boot, causing the dog to fall to the ground. (1) Just then, Buzz woke from his unconscious state as Kairi helped him up to his feet.

"Take it easy, Buzz," Kairi told him, "He hit you really hard," Sora and Woody stood over Scud's limp body and stared at him.

"Did we finish him?" Woody asked the Keyblade master.

"I think we just knocked him out," Sora replied as he carefully stepped back, "We should go before he wakes up."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Lea nodded in agreement. The group walked carefully and quietly past the unconscious dog one by one. When Woody's turn came, the cowboy was shaking with nerves. But, when Woody just went past Scud, his pull string got caught on to the metal balcony, causing his voice box to be activated.

"Yee-haw!" a loud voice came from Woody, "Howdy partner! We've got to get this train a-movin'!" the noise from Woody's voice box caused Scud to instantly wake up and growl at the group of eleven.

"Split up!" Buzz commanded and the rest of the group complied. Sora, West, Donald and Mickey followed Woody into a nearby closet quickly shutting the door behind them. While Riku, Kairi, Lea, Goofy and Max followed Buzz. They ran behind a door leading to another room, and then the group tried desperately to close the door while Scud tried to get in. They finally succeeded and were allowed a few moments rest.

"Okay, that has to be the scariest dog, I've ever seen!" Riku panted in exhaustion.

"Same here, man," Lea agreed. The room they were in now appeared to be some kind of TV room with garbage littering the floor and a large sofa with a man sitting in it. The TV continued to play, even though the man appeared to be asleep. Max stepped over to make sure the man couldn't see them, but then stepped in a puddle of soda, that seemed to have been there for a long time. Kairi cringed in disgust.

"Someone needs to teach this family some manners," She grumbled as Max nodded in agreement and whipped his shoes on the carpet, trying to get them clean.

"Calling Buzz Lightyear! Come in Buzz Lightyear!" a voice from the TV called, "This is Star Command!" Buzz's head instantly perked up in excitement.

"Star Command!" Buzz smiled as he opened the communicator on his arm, but stopped when the voice on the TV changed to a kid's voice.

"Buzz Lightyear responding! Read you loud and clear!" the group gazed at the TV and saw the image shift to a kid holding another Buzz in a space ship-shaped box. It was then the world-travellers realized that this was a commercial for Buzz's toy. The party watched the commercial play, and Buzz's face fall at the same time. By the time the commercial was over, the truth had finally hit Buzz; he wasn't a real space ranger, he was a toy. Goofy turned to Max,

"Remind me to get three a those for Hewy, Dewy and Louie's birthday," he said to his son as Max nodded. Kairi rolled her eyes in amusement.

"Buzz, you never told us you could do all that stuff," Riku chuckled, and turned around to find that the space ranger was walking out of the room, a sad look in his eyes. The rest of the group ran after the toy and saw him standing in front of the balcony where they fought Scud.

"Buzz," Max asked as he walked towards him, "Are you okay?"

"...Everything I knew was a lie," Buzz said sadly, "I'm just a toy, not a space ranger."

"I know how you feel," Lea told him as Buzz looked at him with interest, "There was a time when I couldn't separate what was real and what wasn't. But, do you know what I learned? It's that it doesn't matter what people say you are; it's what you choose to be," Buzz looked at Lea in astonishment, and then looked up at a window across from the top of the balcony. Then, Buzz gained a new look of determination.

"You're absolutely right, fire-man," Buzz said as he started to climb the metal balcony, "I am going to choose what I am; I _am _a space ranger and I _can_ fly!" the world-travellers watched Buzz climb up, all of them looking worried.

"Uhh... Buzz, that's not exactly what I meant!" Lea stammered.

"Lousy advice there, Lea," Kairi smirked.

"Not now, princess," Lea muttered as he followed Buzz up the balcony. As soon as Buzz reached the top of the balcony, he pressed a red button on his chest and two purple plastic wings came out of his back. Buzz's look of determination grew as he pointed his arms out in front of him and boldly said,

"To infinity and beyond!" then, Buzz jumped off the balcony, hoping to fly out of the window. However, instead he roughly fell to the hard ground, causing one of his arms to come off. The space ranger lay there, thinking that all he ever knew was wrong. The world travellers looked down at him from their position at the top of the stairs then looked at each other.

"Just to clarify, what just happened was _not_ my fault!" Lea suddenly blurted out. Riku rolled his eyes.

"You keep telling yourself that, big guy," Riku sighed. Just then, a little girl with dark hair and dressed in pink was seen walking near where Buzz was laying. The group assumed that she was Sid's little sister by the small similarities in appearance. Soon, she noticed Buzz lying on the floor and picked him up. Then she took Buzz up to her bedroom. The group was unsure of what to do from here.

"I say we hide," Max suggested. The rest of the group nodded in agreement, and then quietly snuck into the girl's room and hid under her bed.

**Woody: Thanks for making me the official party member!**

**PrismRain13: No problem! It just felt better than using Buzz (no offense!).  
>UltimateBlackAce; Thanks! I wasn't aware that was a problem! I don't think I'll be using FF4 characters or anyone prior to FF7 mostly because they're not very well known compared to the more recent guys. And, just to clarify, West didn't win against Xigbar, Vincent saved her and TJ. Plus, Xigbar's still a little weak from just waking up... hope that made sense?<br>The Odd Duo; I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to fit much in concerning Kyra's love life... we'll see. And how old is Luke compared to Kyra?  
>InkheartWarrior; she has two brothers, one older, one younger.<strong>

**Woody: Don't forget to review, partners!**

**(1): Woody's limit; **_**Woody's Roundup.**_


	22. Liar

**PrismRain13: Another chapter here folks!**

**Buzz: Prism would like to thank everyone who has been reviewing and add that she still does not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, and Disney and probably never will.**

**PrismRain13: Sadly, that's true :( enjoy the chapter!**

_**Chapter 21: Liar**_

The wooden closet door burst open and Sora, Woody, West and Mickey fell out, tangled up in old Christmas lights. Mickey shook some of the lights off his arms and looked around the group.

"Anyone seen Donald?" Mickey asked while the three shrugged.

"Over here," Donald's muffled voice came from a pile of Christmas lights that was about the same size as Donald. Sora moved over to the pile and pulled back the lights to reveal a dizzy-looking Donald. West pulled some of the Christmas lights off Woody, and then looked over the balcony.

"I don't see Scud anywhere, maybe we sacred him off," the thief told the group. Woody then looked in the direction where Buzz and the other half of the world-travellers went.

"Guys, the coast is clear!" Woody called, when no response came, Woody called louder, "Buzz! Riku! Where are you guys?"

"_There's a secret mission in uncharted space! Let's go!_" Buzz's voice box said, coming from another bedroom.

"Really? That's so interesting!" a little girl's voice squealed from the same room. The group creeped up to the room, Woody holding the coil of Christmas lights. Inside, was a room full of pink with a dark-haired little girl holding a toy teapot and headless dolls sitting at a small table, along with Buzz who was wearing a pink apron, light blue flower hat and had lost his left arm, which was on the teapot. "Would you like some tea, Mrs. Nesbit?" Woody gasped when he saw the state the space ranger was in, "It's so nice you could join us on such late notice," The group turned towards each other, concerned for Buzz and wondering where the rest of their group was.

"We have to get Buzz out of there," Mickey told the group.

"You didn't see Riku and the others in there did you?" West asked while Woody shook his head.

"Aww, somebody's worried about Riku!" Donald quacked in a mocking voice. West, in response smacked the duck upside the head. Sora rolled his eyes, while at the same time he was thinking the same thing about Kairi. Donald looked at Sora and snickered.

"_Sora and Kairi sittin' in a tree,_" Donald started to sing, but was interrupted by Sora covering his bill with his hand.

"Doesn't anyone have any ideas?" Mickey asked, snapping the three out of their current conversation. Woody looked back in the direction of the room and set down the coil of Christmas lights.

"Everyone get inside the lights," Woody told the group, who all complied. Woody then stood next to the wall and called in a high pitch voice, "Hannah, oh Hannah!" Then jumped back into the lights with the world-travelers.

"Mom?" Hannah asked, distracting her attention from Buzz, "What is it mom?" she then walked out of her room, looking for her mom. As soon as Hannah was out of sight, the group jumped out of the Christmas lights, ran into the pink room and circled around Buzz.

"Buzz! You okay?" Sora asked.

"GONE!" Buzz instantly shouted, surprising the group, "It's all gone! Bye-bye! Who's there?" while he spoke, Sora and Woody noticed that his tone of voice was similar to that of an insane person's.

"What happened to you?" Woody asked with concern.

"On minute you're defending the whole galaxy!" Buzz mumbled, "And suddenly you're sucking down gargiling with..." The world-travelers looked uneasily at the headless dolls while Mickey removed Buzz's left arm from the teapot.

"I think you've had enough tea for today," the king said calmly to the space ranger as the group tried to push Buzz out of the room, "let's get you out of here, Buzz."

"DON'T YOU GET IT?" Buzz shouted, "YOU SEE THE HAT? I'M _MRS. NESBIT!_" then, Buzz began laughing like a crazy person, slightly creeping everyone out.

"SNAP OUT OF IT BUZZ!" Woody snapped. The cowboy then grabbed Buzz's arm from Mickey and smacked the space ranger across the face with it (after lowering Buzz's helmet). Buzz seemed to have been restored to normal, but still had a shocked look on his face.

"I-I'm sorry," Buzz mumbled as he took his arm from Woody and walked out of the room, "You're right. I am just a little depressed, that's all. I-I can get through this. OH THE SHAM!"

"Buzz, calm down!" Donald quacked, but the toy kept ranting.

"I can't even fly out of the window!" Buzz sobbed and continued to rant. Woody looked to the direction of Sid's room and saw that his window was wide open. It was then that Woody realized a way to get home.

"Out of the window? Buzz you're a genius!" the cowboy exclaimed happily as he grabbed the Christmas lights and dragged Buzz towards Sid's bedroom, while Lea, Riku, Kairi, Goofy and Max emerged from Hannah's bedroom.

"What's going on with Buzz?" Sora asked them.

"I may have given the guy some bad advice," Lea shrugged.

"Do you think we should follow them?" Max asked.

"We might as well," Riku replied as he crossed his arms, "I can't imagine whatever Woody has planned turning out very well," The rest of the group nodded in agreement as they followed the two toys into Sid's room. Sora, Riku, Kairi and Max followed Woody up onto the desk while Lea, Donald, West, Goofy and Mickey stayed with Buzz whose brain was still unstable (he was playing with his arm). The cowboy doll moved over to the window, pushed it up then started shouting in the direction of the house next door.

"Wait a minute, you guys live next door?" Kairi asked, causing Sora to shrug in response.

"They are toys, Kairi, It's not like they can walk out the front door and walk to the next house without being seen," the Keyblade master replied while Kairi nodded her understanding. Not long after Woody's shouting, several toys appeared in the window; Rex the dinosaur, Little Bo Peep, Hamm the piggy bank, Slinky and Mr. Potato head.

"Woody!" the group of toys exclaimed when they saw the cowboy.

"Oh boy! Am I glad to see you guys!" Woody exclaimed happily.

"I knew you'd come back, Woody!" Slinky smiled.

"What are you doing over there?" Bo Peep asked.

"It's a long story, I'll explain later!" Woody then grabbed the Christmas lights and leaned out the window, "Here! Catch this!" he threw the lights to the other window, which Slinky grabbed.

"I got it Woody!" Slinky called.

"Great going, Slink!" Woody smiled, "Now just tie it onto something!" Then, Mr. Potato Head turned to Slinky,

"Wait! I got a better idea!" the toy then grabbed the lights from Slinky as his voice took an angry tone, "how 'bout we don't!"

"Potato Head!" Bo Peep protested.

"Did you all take stupid pills this morning?" Potato Head argued, "Have you forgotten what he did to Buzz? Now you wanna let him back over here?" Max turned to Woody,

"Do we even want to know?" the dog asked while he crossed his arms. Riku, Sora and Kairi stared at the cowboy with confused expressions on their faces.

"Long story, it was a huge misunderstanding," Woody quickly said, and then turned his attention back to the toys at the window, "you got it all wrong Potato Head. Buzz is fine! Buzz is right here! He's with us!"

"Yeah, it's true!" Sora defended the cowboy, "although, it depends on your definition of 'fine'."

"You are a bunch of liars!" Potato Head snapped.

"No we're not!" Kairi protested. If it was one thing she couldn't stand; it was being called a liar. Then turned to the where Buzz and the rest of their team was, "Buzz, come up here, and show everyone that you're okay!" Mickey looked up at the princess and shook his head while Buzz continued to act crazy.

"I don't think that's gonna happen, Kairi," Mickey told her, "Buzz doesn't look like he'll be up to going anywhere." Kairi nodded her understanding, but Woody wouldn't have it. The cowboy walked up beside her and glared down at Buzz.

"Buzz, would you get up here and give us a hand?" Woody snapped, but all Buzz did was toss his arm up on the table. Woody then grabbed the arm and his glare increased, "BUZZ THIS IS SEROIUS!" the cowboy began freaking out and waving the arm around like a crazy person.

"uhh... Woody," Sora started to say.

"YOU COULD SHOW A LITTLE RESPECT FOR YOUR FELLOW TOY!"

"Woody," Kairi said softly.

"IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK, FOR YOU TO GET OFF YOUR LAZY REAR END AND CLIMB UP HERE?"

"Woody, calm down," Riku cringed.

"THE ONLY WAY THEY'RE GONNA BELIEVE ME IS IF THEY SEE YOU!"

"Dude, chill," Max groaned.

"AND LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING ELSE..."

"WOODY!" Sora, Riku, Kairi and Max yelled all at once, causing the cowboy to snap out of it.

"What?" Woody asked in a cranky tone. The group of four pointed to the toys in the other window, who were staring at Buzz's arm. Rex looked like he was about to throw up.

"That is disgusting," Hamm shook his head.

"Murderer!" Potato Head roared, while he ignored Woody, Sora, Kairi, Riku and Max's protests, "Save it for the jury! I hope Sid pulls out your voice box, ya creep!" and with that said, Potato Head let go of the Christmas lights, letting them fall to the ground.

"No! No! Don't leave! Get us out of here! It's horrible!" Woody sobbed as the toys walked away from the window one by one, until Slinky was the only one left. "Slink! Slink please listen to me!" Slinky looked at his friend with sad and disappointed eyes, and then let the blinds fall.

**PrismRain13: And that's that.**

**Buzz: Poor Woody...**

**PrismRain13: You do realize you could have helped out back there?**

**Buzz: I was in a state of toy depression! Leave me out of this!**

**PrismRain13: ...fine. xion; Thank you :) I will try to keep up the awesomeness! The Odd Duo; just don't let Dr. Possible perform brain surgery on you, cuz that would suck! And thanks for the info on Luke! PirateLover; sadly, not in this story, but it will show up in **_**Another Side, Another Story **_**and possibly in a sequel (I love Peter Pan!). Vacurai78; sure, no problem! But, I'd like to know what kind of character, and I love what you've written! TurtleManDude; he's there if you squint! But thanks for reminding me to give him more screen time! Glad you like it :)**

**Buzz: Remember to review!**


	23. Rockets and Regret

**PrismRain13: Hey, guys! After a long wait, I'm back with a new chapter! Who missed me?**

**Slinky: *raises paw, but is the only person in the room***

**PrismRain13: oh yeah... umm... I still own noting other than the plot and my OC's... and happy new year!**

_**Chapter 22: Rockets and Regret**_

Sora really did feel horrible for Woody. When his friends had all turned their backs on him, the cowboy had begun sobbing uncontrollably, still holding Buzz's arm. Kairi looked up at Woody with a look of remorse in her eyes, and then wrapped her arms around him as an act of comfort.

"It's okay, Woody," she said calmly, "We believe you," no sooner had the words left her mouth, then the group heard the sound of Sid's toys surrounding Buzz and the rest of their team.

"Buzz!" Woody shouted in fear as he jumped down from the desk and ran towards the endangered friends. Sora, Riku, Kairi and Max followed closely behind. Max quickly drew his skateboard and rode right into the pile of toys.

"Don't worry, Dad! I'm coming!" the teenager shouted as he disappeared into the pile. However, before anyone could react, the baby head walked right up to Woody and grabbed Buzz's arm with its claw, causing Woody to panic and engage in a tug of war with the baby head.

"Back! Back you cannibal!" Woody shouted, but the baby head easily yanked Buzz's arm out of Woody's grip, causing the cowboy to tumble into Sora and Riku. Kairi quickly ran to them and cast a quick cure spell on the three boys. As soon as they were healed the four of them quickly ran to the pile of toys. But as soon as they got there Sid's toys parted revealing the rest of their team completely unharmed and Buzz looking more awake and his arm newly attached to his shoulder. Sora, Riku, Kairi and Woody stared at the scene in front of them with mouths wide open.

"What happened?" Riku asked with concern.

"They fixed Buzz," Mickey replied, not quite believing it himself, "They didn't even hurt us,"

"They fixed you?" Woody questioned. He walked over to Buzz and shook his harm to make sure it was attached properly. "But-but they're cannibals! We saw them eat those other toys!" no sooner had the words left his mouth, two newly fixed toys; a doll and a winged dinosaur stepped forward. The group stared at the toys for awhile until Woody finally spoke up, "Sorry, I uhh... thought you were gonna eat my friends..." no sooner had the words left his mouth; Sid's toys quickly ran in several directions, away from sight.

"Wait, what's wrong?" Sora called out to the toys, then voices were heard outside and Woody knew what was coming.

"Sid!" Woody exclaimed as he ran and Sora ran over to Buzz, while the rest of the group went to go hide.

"Buzz! Come on, you have to get up!" Sora told the space ranger while he tried to pull him to his feet. He and Woody tried more to get him to move, but as Sid's footsteps got closer, Woody grabbed onto Sora's arm and tried to pull him away from Buzz.

"If he wants to stay here, he can stay!" Woody snapped as he dragged the Keyblade Master off to a hiding spot. Sora gave one last look at the sad toy, before following Woody under a small blue crate. Which happened to be the same crate Donald, Max and Goofy were hiding under. A second later, an enthusiastic Sid bounced into the room carrying a package.

"It came! It finally came!" Sid beamed as he set the package on his desk and opened it, pulling out a small red and blue rocket with the words 'big one' on it. Sid looked at the rocket and read what was written on the side, "'extremely dangerous, keep out of reach of children,' cool. What am I gonna blow? Hey, where's that wimpy cowboy doll?" Woody gasped in shock and began backing up in fear, until he reached the back of the crate. Sora looked at his friends, then at the top of the crate and suddenly an idea formed in his mind. He quickly summoned Kingdom Key and pointed it in the centre of the crate.

"Magnet!" he whispered, and suddenly, all five of them levitated to the top of the crate as they all grabbed on to the top, so when Sid lifted the crate up, he didn't notice that they were even there. But then, the boy accidentally stepped on Buzz, causing his laser to blink. Sid smirked and picked up the space ranger with interest.

"Yea, I've always wanted to put a space man into orbit!" Then, Sid roughly dropped the blue crate on his desk and slammed his toolbox on top of it, causing the five inside of it to fall down. The boy dag through the toolbox, until he found a roll of duct tape. Sid then grabbed Buzz and roughly taped the rocket onto Buzz's back. But before anything else could happen, a clap of thunder was heard outside and rain started to roughly pour down, "Aww man!" Sid sighed in defeat, while Sora and Woody let out sighs of relief. Sid then, slammed Buzz down on the desk, "Looks like launch will have to be delayed! Until it stops raining!" the boy took one last look at Buzz, before walking out of his room and slamming the door shut. Goofy glanced over at Buzz and started calling to him.

"Buzz," the dog called, "Can ya help get this toolbox offa us?"

"You can leave that to us!" Riku's voice came from above them. The trapped five looked up and saw Riku, Mickey and Lea putting all their weight into pushing their toolbox off the crate. Then, Kairi and West jumped up onto the desk and ran towards Buzz.

"Don't worry Buzz; we'll have you free in no time!" Kairi said as she drew Destiny's Embrace and West drew her knife, Pickpocket.

"What's the point?" Buzz asked glumly as he pushed the two girls away from him before either of them had a chance to even touch the rocket, "I can't help anyone."

"Sure ya can, Buzz!" Mickey said in his cheery tone, "You can help us get this toolbox off, and then we can get that rocket off you. Then you and Woody can get back home to Andy!"

"What's the difference? I'm not a space ranger, I'm just a toy. You were right all along, Woody," Buzz sighed.

"Hey, being a toy is a lot better than being a space ranger!" Woody said as an attempt of comfort, "Over in that house next door is a kid who thinks that you are the greatest. And it's not because you are a space ranger, pal, it's because you are a toy! You are his toy!"

"But why would Andy want me?"

"Look at you! You're a Buzz Lightyear! Any other toy would give up his moving parts just to be you! You have wings, you glow in the dark! You are a cool toy!" Woody exclaimed as realization hit him and his face fell, "as a matter of fact, you're too cool. I mean, what chance does a toy like me have against a Buzz Lightyear action figure?"

"None?" Lea asked with a chuckle, earning him a punch in the leg from Kairi.

"You're not helping!" she snapped.

"Why would Andy ever want to play with me?" Woody sighed while the world-travellers looked at him sadly and Max hugged Woody as an act of comfort.

"I would," Sora told the cowboy as he placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Me too," Max agreed.

"Same here," Kairi added as the rest of their group agreed. But Woody still didn't look convinced.

"I'm the one who should be strapped to that rocket. Forget about me, guys. You should get out of here while you can." Suddenly, there was the sound of the toolbox being moved. Everyone looked in the direction the noise was coming from and saw Buzz trying his hardest to push the toolbox of the captive friends.

"Buzz?" Donald quacked, "Whacha doin'?"

"Come on, duck, the sheriff and I have a kid waiting for us, so everyone get pushing!" the space ranger ordered the group.

"Yes sir!" Sora smiled as he performed a small solute, happy that Buzz had regained his confidence. The five who were stuck inside the crate began pushing from the inside, Buzz, Riku, Lea and Mickey tried to push the toolbox off the crate, while Kairi and West pushed the crate from behind. Eventually, the crate was moved just enough that a small hole between the front of the crate and the edge of the desk was visible. Sora, Donald, Goofy, Max and Woody quickly jumped out one by one onto the floor. When Riku realized that his friends were out, he let out a sigh of relief and looked out the window, noticing that it had stopped raining.

"Uhh, guys, I think we may have a problem," everyone else looked at the silver-haired boy in confusion, until they noticed that it had stopped raining as well. Then, the sound of feet running up the stairs caught everyone's attention as Woody and the world-travellers rushed to hide, but Buzz remained where he was. In the next second, Sid burst into the room with a crazy grin on his face.

"Alright! To infinity and beyond!" Sid yelled as he grabbed Buzz, ran out of the room and slammed the door behind him. The group ran out of their hiding places and ran to the door.

"Great, what do we do now?" Max grumbled. Just then, Woody noticed Sid's toys come out of the shadows.

"Hey guys!" Woody exclaimed, "We really need your help! Sid's going to blow Buzz to bits in a few minutes! I need to save him, he's my friend!" Sid's toys looked at each other for a few seconds, before making a decision. Then they all walked towards the group with determined looks, "Thank you. Okay, I think I know what to do; we might have to break a few rules. But if it works, it'll help everybody."

**Slinky: Alright! Go Woody!**

**PrismRain13: sadly, next chapter will probably be the last of the Toy Story ****world... ****Bearybeary; thanks! Vacurai78; okay! I did! I'm excited to read what you have, can you tell me where to find it? InkheartWarrior; thanks, but I'm not sure I'm going to have a ton of them in, but I will tell you if I want to use them. Silversocks the Pirate; awesome, those are great ideas! I will credit you when they show up! The Odd Duo; I'm still working that out... but I will think on it... and a profile of Garnet would be nice :)**

**Slinky: This has been your friendly neighbourhood nerd and favourite slinky! Remember to review!**


	24. So Play Nice!

**PrismRain13: Here's the final chapter of the Toy Story world! Sorry for the long wait, guys, a ton of stuff's been going on!**

**Mr. Potato Head: *cries***

**PrismRain13: Will you just get over it?**

**Mr. Potato Head: No I can't! You made me seem like a jerk two chapters ago!**

**PrismRain13: Well, you kind of were. I do not claim ownership of Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or anything Disney. _Final Distance_, the theme song belongs to Utada Hikaru. I do however own the plot, and my OCs.**

**_Chapter 23: So Play Nice!_**

Only a few minutes later, Woody had gathered Sora's team and Sid's toys around a makeshift battle plan made of dominos. "Okay, I need Kairi and Goofy to hide out here, Lea here. Legs," Woody turned to a toy fishing rod with doll legs, "You're with Ducky, Donald, Mickey and West. Sora, Riku, Max, Skateboard and I will wait to move until we get the signal, are we clear?" the group all nodded with enthusiasm, "Okay, let's move!" the toys all let out their own battle cries, before moving into their own individual groups. Donald's group moved over to an air vent, which Legs and West opened with no difficulty. The group crawled through the air vent, but they weren't able to make it far, before the heartless showed up, blocking their way.

"Why do you guys always have to get in our way?" Donald quacked angrily as he raised his staff. An evil chuckle came from the jack-in-the-box, and then its head popped out and smacked Donald against the air vent wall, causing the room to rattle violently.

"You okay, Donald?" West asked as she tossed the grumpy duck a potion.

"We better be careful how much we fight at once; the last thing we want is the air vents to break on us," Mickey said as he raised Star Seeker. The three world-travellers stayed in front of Legs and Ducky and attacked the heartless at a safe distance. West threw Pickpocket at the bouncy balls, and when the knife flew back to her hand, the last slash was enough to defeat said heatless. Donald used fire spells on the slinkys, causing them to melt. And Mickey fired small beams of light at the jack-in-the-box. As soon as the heartless were gone, the group of five kept moving, their footsteps echoing through the air vent. When they had made it to the part of the roof that was over the front door, the five let out sighs of relief. West turned to Ducky,

"Glad we made out of there," she smiled and Ducky nodded in agreement.

"So Woody said that the plan was to ring the doorbell; that's the signal," Mickey said to the group, "Legs will lower Ducky and one of us down to the doorbell, while the other two will keep watch for heartless."

"So who's gonna go down?" West asked.

"I'm not going down there! I don't like heights!" Donald quacked as he crossed his arms and turned his back to the group. Mickey raised an eyebrow at Donald,

"If you're really that scared, Donald, I'll go down with Ducky. West, can you help Donald keep an eye out for heatless?" Mickey asked.

"Sure, your majesty, but are you sure you're going to be okay?" the thief asked as Mickey nodded.

"I'll be okay, just get rid of any heartless that might show up," Donald and West gave solutes as Ducky and Legs removed the light over top of the house's front door. Mickey climbed onto Ducky's back, and Legs lowered them down. The two were lowered down until they were facing the doorbell, then they began pumping back and forth in order to reach the doorbell. As soon as they were close enough to the doorbell, Mickey used his foot to hit the doorbell, allowing the familiar sound, and the other group's signal to be released.

~*KHIII*~

"Now!" Woody shouted as Sora pointed his Keyblade at the doorknob, unlocking it. Then he, Woody, Riku, Max and the Skateboard wheeled out of the room. But were soon followed by Scud who had been waiting outside the door, the group wheeled down the stairs. Noticing that the angry dog was gaining on them, Max pulled out his own skateboard and jumped off the one they were on and rode in between Scud's legs.

"Max!" Sora called in concern.

"Don't worry, Sora! I can outride him!" Max called back as the group of three continued on their path. Scud growled at Max, and began chasing him. As he was avoiding the dog, Max saw Hannah walking towards the front door, thinking that she must have heard the doorbell; Max made a break for it. Just as he got there the young girl opened the door, noticing no one there. Max quickly rode out the door and landed in Mickey's arms. The king quickly pulled on the string and Legs pulled the three up. Just as soon as Scud tripped Hannah and barked angrily at the ceiling where the three had disappeared.

"Stupid dog!" Hannah growled in annoyance as she slammed the door, locking the dog outside.

Meanwhile, Sora, Woody and Riku had made it outside. Sora looked towards the sandbox, where he saw Kairi and Goofy hiding.

_Be careful_, Kairi mouthed to the spiky haired boy, Sora smiled at her, just as worried for her safety as she was for him.

_You too_, Sora mouthed back, as the princess gave him an encouraging smile. Riku then nudged Sora and pointed at Buzz, who was standing on a bucket with the rocket still taped to his back. As soon as Buzz saw the three run towards him with looks of determination, the toy's face lit up.

"Guys! Am I glad to see you! Quck, help get me-" but, Buzz was quickly shushed by Woody.

"Everything's under control!" the cowboy beamed as he lay down on the ground like a limp doll. Sora and Riku quickly followed his lead trying to look as much like toys as possible. Just then Sid walked out of the shed holding a pack of matches, then he noticed the three heroes.

"Hey, how'd you get out here?" Sid questioned as he picked the three off the ground, "And I don't remember you two," But, Sid just shrugged and set them on a nearby mini barbeque, "we can have a cookout later," the child chuckled and moved back to Buzz with the matches in hand. He was about to light the rocket, when Woody's voice box went off.

"Reach for the skies! This town ain't big enough for the two of us!" Sid glanced at Woody and picked the cowboy up in curiosity, and then he snarled. Not understanding why Woody was talking.

"It's busted," Sid snarled.

"Who're you calling busted, buster?" Sora snickered under his breath, imitating what woody was doing. Sid then began to look a little creeped out as he picked up Sora and Riku, looking desperately for loose pull strings.

"That's right, we're talking to you, Sid Phillips," Riku snickered, "We don't like being blown up Sid, or smashed, or ripped apart!"

"W-we?" Sid's voice quivered in fear.

"That's right, kiddo; your toys!" a gruff voice said from behind Sid. The boy rapidly turned around to find Pete and Mortimer; both shrunk to a toy's size and standing in front of Buzz, who was being held by neoshadow heartless with their arms crossed over their chests. Sid gasped in shock at the two live "toys" as they walked closer to him.

"Boo!" Pete simply said as Sid screamed in fear as he fainted, releasing Woody, Sora and Riku.

"Should have known that you guys would show up," Sora snarled as he dusted himself off and summoned Kingdom Key, "What do you guys want?"

"Oh, not much," Mortimer replied with a smirk, "Just to take the heart of that bratty kid!" the rat pointed at the unconscious Sid, "His heart's so full of darkness, he'll make a great heartless!"

"Plus, we just made a great heartless to deal with you kiddies!" Pete laughed as he snapped his fingers. As soon as he had, Buzz's rocket began to rumble and blasted clean off the toy's back and into the air. The rocket then began to be coated in dark energy and grew triple in size and turned black and purple with an evil face on it and the heartless symbol was on the side.

"Meet the Rocket Blaster!" Mortimer smirked, "You kids have fun, ah-cha-cha!" then, he and Pete disappeared in a cloud of darkness and the Rocket Blaster charged towards the three heroes, just as the rest of their team came out of their hiding places. West, Donald, Mickey and Max came out from a nearby air vent and Kairi, Goofy and Lea jumped out of the sandbox. Seeing the distress the three were in, Kairi, Donald and Goofy rushed into the battle just as a barrier appeared around them.

"Okay, that has to be one of the creepiest heartless I've ever seen!" Lea said uncomfortably from outside of the barrier.

"You can say that again," Mickey nodded in agreement. The Rocket Blaster growled at the six heroes in front of it and charged at them with flames coming out of the back. Donald, thinking quickly, extinquished the flames with a blizzard spell, while Goofy tried to throw his shield at it, but the Rocket Blaster easily dodged. Then, the flames reappeared out of the end. Sora threw Kingdom Key at it, managing to cause minor damage, but nothing more. Woody pulled out his pull string and tried to lasso the heartless, but ended up tying up Riku, but did pull him out of the way of an attack. Kairi quickly doged out of the way, while Kairi landed safely in Sora's arms.

"This things too fast," Woody said worriedly as he quickly untied Riku, "What do we do?"

"I think I have an idea that might work!" Goofy said as he turned to Donald. Goofy quickly grabbed a hold of Riku's wrist and Donald pulled Kairi off to the side. The two Disney residents whispered to Riku and Kairi what they wanted them to do, and they nodded their heads in understanding. Riku and Kairi glared at the heartless with determination as they grabbed hold of their partner's hand. Then, they were all surrounded by bright white glows. When the light died down, Donald and Goofy were gone and Riku's clothes had turned black and red, while Kairi's had turned silver and blue. In Riku's hands were two new keyblades; one was black and white and supported a western theme and had Wood's hat as the teeth and a sheriff star as the keychain, the other supported the bright colours Buzz wore and a space theme. Kairi was holding a keyblade that was mostly grandmother willow's tree with sailboat flags as the teeth and a compass as the keychain. They were called _Roundup, Infinity and Beyond_ and _Two Worlds._ Riku was revealed to be in Valor form, while Kairi was in Wisdom Form.

"This is gonna be good!" Riku smirked with confidence as he jumped into the air and threw both Roundup and Infinity and Beyond at the heartless, the heavy blows knocking it backwards, while Kairi gracefully glided across the ground and fired magic light orbs at the heartless; hitting it with every attack. Then, Riku and Kairi nodded at each other and charged up their energy and let out two powerful physical/magical blows. The Rocket Blaster howled in pain from the impact as Woody and Sora delivered the final blow together. The Rocket Blaster then began to slowly fade into darkness as a glowing pink heart flew into the sky. Riku then turned to Pete and Mortimer who were staring at the heroes with shocked looks on their faces. Kairi stepped in front of the silver-haired teen and raised Two Worlds in a threatening way.

"You guys wanna leave, or do we have to kick your butts?" Kairi asked menacingly. Mortimer stepped forward and growled at the princess.

"Mark my words, missy, one of these days you'll be begging to us; all of you will!" Mortimer growled angrily as Pete dragged him through a corridor of darkness as the heartless that were surrounding Buzz disappeared. Then, the white light engulfed Riku and Kairi again, and when it died down Goofy was standing beside Riku and Donald was standing beside Kairi. Their clothes and keyblades had also returned to normal.

"Guys, that was awesome!" Sora said with excitement as he ran over to congratulate his friends as the barrier disappeared. Kairi blushed slightly and wrapped her arms around Sora tightly and then pecked him on the cheek, causing the spick-haired boy to blush aswell.

"How did you know that those drive forms would work with Riku and Kairi?" Mickey asked Donald and Goofy in awe.

"We didn't," Goofy nervously chuckled. Buzz then jumped down from the bucket and removed the spare duct tape around himself and walked over to the group.

"I don't know how to thank all of you," Buzz said with admiration, "I was at my darkest hour and you helped me see the light."

"Don't worry about it dude," Lea said, "Seeing that bratty kid fait was good enough, even if we didn't cause it."

"Speaking of which," Woody smirked, an idea forming in his mind. The cowboy motioned for Buzz to follow him and the two climbed onto Sid's chest just as he began to open his eyes. As soon as he saw Woody and Buzz standing over him, his eyes widened in fear as both toys crossed their arms and glared, "So play nice!" Woody snarled threateningly. Sid wasted no time in jumping up from the ground and running as fast as he could all the way back to his house, screaming like a little girl. Watching him leave, the group laughed their heads off, until Woody's hat began to glow and float into the sky. Sora watched the hat fly into the air and turned to Riku,

"Go for it," Sora told his friend as Riku stepped forward and shot a beam of light into a glowing keyhole that had formed into the sky.

"What was that?" Woody asked as his hat returned to his head.

"It means it's time for us to go," West said sadly, "More worlds to save and all. I really had fun here!" Buzz then turned to Riku and pulled something out of his spacesuit,

"Well, then, here," Buzz said as he dropped an object into Riku's hand; it was a summon charm that was dirt brown with a small red circle that contained a white "E". "I found it at Pizza Planet, but I think you will find much more use for it than I will," the space ranger explained. Riku called it the Trash Charm.

"Thanks, Buzz," Riku smiled as he pocketed the charm.

"Do you guys need any help getting back home?" Lea asked jokingly, "It is next door." Woody and Buzz burst out laughing at Lea's comment, until Woody composed himself enough to awnser,

"No, that's okay, besides we have a moving van to catch."

**PrismRain13: Well, that's the end of that! Again, I'm sorry for the long wait…**

**Mr. Potato Head: You should be!**

**PrismRain13: I'm sorry! Anyway, here's some hints on what's to come: the next world is one that was in KH2 but not in KH, the summon charm's a Disney/Pixar character.**

**Mr. Potato Head: You people better review!**

**PrismRain13: *glares***


	25. Return to China

**PrismRain13: Hello all my loyal fans! You guys are the best for giving this story 150 REVIEWS!**

**Lea: dang it, girl you're popular.**

**PrismRain13: I just want to thank everyone who has made Reconnected such an awesome story thanks to all your support! You guys are the greatest :)**

**Lea: Got that right! Prism does not claim ownership of anything she writes about other than the plot and her OC's, she doesn't own the theme song either! Got it memorized?**

_**Chapter 24: Return to China**_

Back on the gummi ship, travelling through space, Riku sat down in the cockpit twirling the Trash Charm he had gotten from Buzz between his fingers. The rest of the team was there, engaged in their own thoughts and conversations. Kairi and West were engaged in girl talk, and seemed to be becoming close friends. Donald was piloting the controls, clearly stating that he didn't want Sora crashing them. Goofy and Max had gone down to the engine room with Mickey to oil out the gears. Lea was practicing his fire magic in the palm of his hand and Sora was looking at the charm that let him summon Perry. Riku turned to his long-time friend,

"So, how does summoning work anyway?" Riku asked. Sora looked at the silver-haired boy in amusement.

"Seriously? Maleficent never taught you how?" Sora questioned, "I thought she would have had you and West summoning evil monsters or something." Riku shook his head.

"She never even mentioned it," the silver-haired boy admitted, "I didn't even know it existed until I saw you do it." Sora nodded his understanding, then moved on to explain,

"Summoning is actually pretty easy, once you formed a mental bond with the summon, you just need to call them and they'll help you." Sora explained, "Just try it the next time you're in a fight; you'll see what I mean." Riku was about to ask what his friend meant, before a loud beeping sound was heard from the dashboard, just as Goofy, Max and Mickey returned from the engine room.

"Everyone, this is your captain speaking," Donald said through the intercom even though they were all in the same room, "We are approaching a familiar world, please remain seating until the gummi ship comes to a complete stop. Thanks for flying air _Donald Rocks_; completely crash-free!" (1) the duck then looked at Sora and smirked while the young keybearer sighed in defeat.

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" Sora grumbled while the Duck happily shook his head and they made their descent.

~*KHIII*~

**_"Land of the Dragons"_**

The group landed on the world and quickly exited the gummi ship to find themselves standing in a large courtyard with a large red Chinese castle in front of them. Sora, Riku, Donald and Goofy recognized the place immediately.

"Gawrsh, we're back in the Land of the Dragons!" Goofy exclaimed excitedly, "It'll be great to see Mulan and all those other guys again."

"Yeah," Sora agreed, "I wonder how she and Shang are getting along." He smirked at the memory of how much they liked eachother.

"Did you say Mulan?" Riku asked, "Wasn't she the girl worried about impressing some matchmaker?"

"That doesn't sound like Mulan," Donald wondered, "Riku, she was the girl that was with us when you still looked like Ansem, remember?"

"That was Mulan?" Riku asked in shock, "That didn't look like the Mulan I remembered."

"Sora? Donald? Goofy?" a voice said from behind the group. They all turned around to find a young black-haired Chinese woman in a green combat dress and had a white and black necklace around her neck. A familiar family sword was strapped onto her waist and seemed to immediately recognize the three world-travellers

"Mulan!" the trio exclaimed in excitement as they ran over to her and caught her in a group hug.

"I've missed you all so much!" Mulan exclaimed as she tightly hugged them back, "It's so good to see you all."

"Mulan? Is that you?" Riku asked as the young woman looked at him in shock. Then, a small, skinny red dragon jumped out onto Mulan's shoulder and beamed when he saw Riku.

"Riku, my man!" the dragon smilled as he rushed over to Riku and climbed onto his shoulder, "How've ya been? How's life been treatin' ya without a guardian dragon?" West giggled and bent down to look at the dragon.

"Hi Mushu!" she waved.

"West! You're here too?" Mushu smiled, "This is great!"

"How exactly do you guys know each other?" Kairi asked as she introduced herself, Lea, Max and Mickey to the Chinese warrior.

"Mushu's been a really great pal of ours when we were stuck with Maleficent!" West explained, "He really helped us out a lot. But, when Maleficent found out about him she wasn't happy."

"That crazy witch stuck me in some wacko chamber and turned me into a gem! She had no respect for my awesome power!" Mushu grumbled.

"Yeah, sure," Mulan laughed, "So, I'm guessing you guys are off on another quest?"

"You bet!" Sora smiled, "So how are you and Shang?" he asked in a somewhat teasing tone.

"We've been doing just fine, soldier," another voice laughed as the group saw Captain-now General Shang walking towards them and stood right next to Mulan. His armour was now coloured yellow and black and still had a long, red cape. But, what Sora really noticed was a necklace that was just like Mulan's except the colours were switched around. As soon as he was beside the female warrior, he placed his arm around her in a loving gesture Sora had often seen couples do.

"Something going on here that we don't know about?" Max asked, voicing the team's thoughts. Mulan and Shang looked at each other in amusement.

"Do you want to tell them or should I?" Mulan asked.

"Go ahead," Shang told her, Mulan paused for a moment, leaving the group in anticipation, before delivering the news,

"We're getting married!" Mulan exclaimed excitedly and then was engulfed by the entire group who all delivered their words of congratulations. Lea turned to Shang.

"When'd you get the guts to propose, dude?" the flamethrower asked

"This morning," Shang admitted, "Anyway, Mulan we'd better get going, the Emperor won't like to be kept waiting.

"The Emperor's congratulating you in his palace?" Goofy asked, while Mulan shook her head.

"No, we're just getting ready to leave for a mission. We're supposed to be safely transporting his three daughters to the neighbouring kingdom, so that the kingdoms can be joined through marriage." Mulan explained, "But as long as you're here we could use another hand in case the heartless or nobodies show up."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Sora smiled, "Let's get this done!"

"I dunno, moving princesses?" Lea shrugged, "sounds boring." Then, the group began walking up the elegant stairs toward the Emperor's palace. However, no one noticed a figure watching their every move from the roofs. A blue-haired man around Lea's age with an x-shaped scar across his face and dressed in a dark blue, long-sleeved cloak with a dark yellow trim and on the back was a silver crescent moon with the nobody emblem in the center. And was also dressed in a white turtle neck, black pants and black boots and two crossing straps over his shirt along with black gloves.

"Boring? Is that so?" the figure questioned as he raised his hand allowing a blue and yellow claymore to appear, "Well then, old friend. I'll just have to make this experience a little more exciting for you."

**PrismRain13: Well, I guess this mystery fella's really no mystery since we saw him a few chappies ago. But, I wanted to give him a dramatic entrance :)**

**Lea: Remember to review guys!**


	26. My Duty Is To My Heart

**PrismRain13: Hey guys! So, I've been looking on YouTube for **_**Mulan II**_**, but can't find the whole thing which kinda sucks :( But, luckily I did see it before so I think that this world will be doable. Another reason why this is late is because I've been working a lot on _Another Side Another Story._**

**Mulan: It just won't be word for word and some small events may be skipped. Hope this won't be too big of a problem.**

**PrismRain13: I still claim ownership of nothing other than the plot and my OC's. Got it?**

_**Chapter 25: My Duty Is To My Heart**_

The group had made their way up to the palace gates in order to find three familiar soldiers standing proudly. The first was large, bald and dressed in blue armour, the second was extremely skinny, had his hair pulled back in a ponytail and was garbed in yellow armour, the last was short and round with a black eye and was wearing red armour. Sora, Donald and Goofy recognized them immediately as Chien-Po, Ling and Yao. Yao turned to see Mulan and Shang walking up the steps, then his eyes widened in surprise when he saw the world-hopping trio with them. The red-garbed soldier then got Chien-Po and Ling's attention by pocking them in the arms. When the two other soldiers saw the familiar faces, they waved to them in excitement.

"Look who's back!" Yao waved, "Been awhile, spiky!"

"Hey! Long time no see!" Sora waved back, "You guys helping with the mission too?"

"You bet!" Ling replied enthusiastically, "the Emperor wanted nothing better than China's best warriors, he's got them!" Lea looked between the three soldiers, and then suddenly burst out laughing. Yao turned to the red head and his face immediately filled with anger.

"What's so funny, hot-head?" Yao growled. Lea was able to stop laughing for a little bit in order to answer Yao,

"_You three _are China's greatest warriors?" Lea laughed, "Sorry, I just don't see it!" Yao and Ling raised their fists and snarled at the red-head.

"You got somethin' ta say fire-head?" Yao growled as he raised his fist. He and Ling were just about to attack Lea when Chein-Po pulled to two of them towards him, in a group hug.

"Ling, Yao, that's not very nice," the large warrior said calmly, "He's Sora's friend, and they all deserve our respect."

"My thoughts exactly," a magestic voice stated. The entire group turned to the direction of the palace doors which were now open and standing there was an old man with a long white beard dressed in golden royal chinese robes. Sora, Donald and Goofy recognized him immediately as the Emperor of The Land of the Dragons and they bowed in respect. The rest of the team followed their lead, trusting their judement.

"Your, magesty, it's great to see you again," Sora said. The Emperor chuckled and motioned for them to stand back up,

"At ease everyone," he then turned to look at Mickey, "King Mickey of Disney Castle I presume?" Mickey nodded, "Sora, Donald and Goofy have told me much about you, I have to say, it's an honour to meet you," then he turned to Riku, "And Riku, I never got the chance to thank you for warning me about the dragon. Though, I have to admit, you do look different,"

"It's a long story your magesty. One that I really don't want to get into," The Emperor nodded,

"I assume you are here to help move my daughters to the kingdom of Qui Gong?"

"Yeah, if you need nine extra hands," Max laughed a laugh very similar to Goofy's. At that moment, three women energed from the palace. All hiding their faces behind their faces and all had different hairstyles. They were all wearing different coulored dresses; pink, orange and purple. The Emperor turned to his daughters and hugged all three of them,

"Ting-Ting, Su, Mei, these are that warriors that will be safely transporting you," the Emperor explained.

"Father, we don't really need all these people with us, do we?" the tall one in purple questioned.

"I assure you, they are nothing but the best, you will be perfectly safe with them," the princesses said their final goodbyes before one by one they got in the carriage. The one in pink was the last to get in, but tripped and fell backwards on the sidewalk. Yao immediately ran over to her and helped her to her feet, then noticed that she had lost one of her slippers. The soldier carefully picked up the delicate pink slipper and placed it on the princess's foot. She smiled at him, before climbing into the carriage. Ling hid a snicker behind his hand and Yao punched him roughly in the arm, causing Ling to let out a wimper.

A few hours later, the carriage and the fourteen guards were riding along the country side. Shang and Mulan were on their respective horses with Sora, Riku, Goofy and Donald. Mickey was riding the carriage horse while West and Kairi were sitting on top of the carriage and Yao, Ling, Chien-Po, Lea and Max were walking closely beside the carriage. The princesses were still inside, having a conversation of their own;

"Mei," Ting-Ting leaned over to her sister, "Why do you keep stairing at that soldier?" and sure enough, Mei was staring put the carriage window at Yao, "You need to forget about him; we are going to be married in a few day's time!"

"Ting-Ting, stop it!" Su told her sister, "We already know that!"

"I get that, but, Mei you have to get that black-eyed gorilla out of your head!"

"Don't say that about him!" Mei snapped unexpectedly, "He's not that! To me, he's a soft, cuddly little panda bear," her voice, at that moment drifted off into a dreamy tone while Ting-Ting rolled her eyes. At that moment, Mulan, Sora and Goofy rode up to the carriage window on Mulan's horse.

"Not interrupting anything are we?" Sora asked.

"No, not at all," Su smiled.

"Gawrsh, so yer all gonna get married to some boys ya'll don't know, that sounds a little scary," Goofy said.

"It is," Ting-Ting replied, "But we love our father and trust his judgement,"

"Sounds like you have it all figured out," Mulan smiled before turning her attention back to the road.

"Fa Mulan!" Mei exclaimed, causing Mulan to look back at the princess, "You once had a duty to China, but walked another path as well. What drove you to that?" Mulan only shrugged,

"I dont really know, I guess I just realized that my duty is to my heart," Mei gave a short nod before backing back into the carriage. Meanwhile, Shang, Riku and Donald were riding up front and things had been quiet between the three, until Riku turned to the duck sitting behind him.

"Hey, Donald, there's been something I've been wanting to ask you," Riku said, Donald looked up at the silver-haired teen, encouraging him to go on, "Why did you act like you hated me when I first met you and Goofy. I mean, I know I wasn't exactly warm to you guys but why did you say I couldn't come with you?"

"Well, it's kinda complicated, but we were on an important mission for the king and I didn't want anything to go wrong. Mickey and Goofy have been my friends for a long time; I'd do anything for them. I was really worried about Mickey, but I tried not to show it. And when you came along, I saw you as a threat to the mission because you smelled like darkness. Afterwards, Sora told us lots of stories about you and Kairi, but I just couldn't believe you were his friend. Then, when we met you again in the Organization's world, I saw you as more of the person Sora told us about. Sometimes I wonder how our journey would have been different if I let you come with us." Donald sighed. Riku nodded his understanding,

"It would have been different," he agreed

"Riku, I just want ya to know that I'm sorry for how I treated you back then,"

"Don't worry about it Donald, thanks for telling me,"

"This can't be right!" Shang suddenly snapped to himself, causing Riku and Donald to jump in surprise. Shang was looking at a map that had very confusing sloppily written directions written on it in ink, "I don't remember writing these directions, and I thought we passed the turnoff hours ago!" Mulan noticed that something was wrong and rode up beside him,

"Shang, Is there something wrong?" Mulan asked as Shang showed her the map.

"Did you write these directions?" Shang snapped causing Mulan to flinch a little,

"No," Mulan shook her head, "I don't even remember seeing all this written,"

"Well, you and I are the only ones who touched the map! And I certainly did not write this!" Mulan glared deeply into Shang's eyes as her cheeks puffed out with anger.

"Are you accusing me of something?" Mulan growled

"Hey! Why don't we just camp out here?" Lea suddenly interupted, "Ya know it is starting to get dark and you guys are obviously stressed out. I make a mean fire!" everyone, including the princesses looked at him in confusion, creating a very awkward situation.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Max shrugged uncomfortably, "I'll go set up the tents," No one was in the mood for arguing, so an hour later tents were set up and Lea was starting a fire. Su was picking fruit and Chien-Po was helping her. Sora noticed that the two seemed to be growing attached to eachother which Sora couldn't help but smile at. Ting-Ting was trying to take a peaceful walk, which she wasn't having too much sucess at because Ling was following her trying to get her attention by telling her not-so funny jokes and flirting with her. Mei and Yao were sitting on a nearby log, chatting happily. Kairi and Sora sat next to eachother on another log, watching the princesses and the soldiers.

"You know," Kairi started to say, "If the princesses weren't about to get married to some princes, I'd say they'd found their perfect matches," Sora nodded in agreement.

"Well, they never did meet these princes. Maybe they might like these guys more than the princes," Sora placed his hand on Kairi's as they both blushed. However, that moment was soon interrupted by Mulan and Shang stomping out of one of the tents. Both had angry looks on their faces and Shang was holding the crumpled map in his hands.

"I'm telling you I did not write on the map!" Mulan snapped angrilly.

"Then who was it?" Shang retorted.

"I don't know! But I do know one thing, I am sick of you accusing me for something I didn't do!" And with that, Mulan turned her back to Shang and stomped back into her tent, leaving the entire group looking at the engaged couple confused.

"Fine! Be that way!" Shang snappped in annoyance as he stomped back to his tent.

"What do you guys think that was about?" Mickey asked as he sat down next to Sora and Kairi.

"It sounds like they're having couple issues," Kairi said, "I wonder who did mess up that map," Later that night, Mei sat herself down in her tent, pulled out a peice of paper and a quill and began writing a letter to her father,

_"Dear, Father, I regret to inform you that I can no longer go through with this mission, I just feel that my duty is to my heart..."_

**PrismRain13: Finally got this done! Hope you liked it :)**

**Mulan: Read and Review!**


	27. Village By The Moonlight

**PrismRain13: PLEASE READ! So, basically I haven't updated in awhile because I've been redoing all of my chapters and adding some stuff in. So, before you move on to this new chapter, please go back and re-read all the previous chapters, because if you don't you WILL be confused!**

**Shang: Prism still owns nothing other than the plot and her OCs.**

_**Chapter 26: Village By The Moonlight**_

As Mei sat in the silent candle-lit tent, writing her letter she was completely unprepared when her two sisters entered the tent and Ting-Ting snatched the letter out of her sister's hands. The eldest princess skimmed over the letter and her face filled with shock.

"Mei! What is the meaning of this?" Ting-Ting demanded, "You can't run away! We promised father!"

"We don't like the idea either, Mei. But sometimes our duties have to come before what we want," Su agreed.

"How can you say that? I just realized me and Yao share a special connection! I can't just-"

"I know where my duties lie Mei, do you?" Ting-Ting asked.

"But, I want to be with Yao!" Mei exclaimed as she sobbed into Ting-Ting's shoulders and Su placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I just want to be like other girls!"

Meanwhile, outside the campsite, Mulan, Lea, Donald, Goofy, Max and Mickey sat guarding the site, exchanging stories. Sora had just finished telling the chinese warrior about the end result of Toy World.

"So, what happened to Sid?" Mukan asked.

"Woody and Buzz scared him off," Donald explained, "I hope that kid needs therapy for the rest of his life!"

"Donald, that's not a nice thing to say!" Goofy exclaimed.

"But, the kid was evil, he kinda deserved it," Lea stated.

"Lea just cuz Sid was mean, doesn't mean we just go on and think bad of them!" Goofy scolded, but failed to look serious. Donald snickered at Goofy's effort when suddenly Shang burst out of his tent, marching towards the group and with an angry look on his face.

"General Hardhead? Brushing my teeth?" Shang growled, looking directly at Mulan.

"Shang, are you alright?" Mickey asked with concern, but he went ignored.

"What are you talking about?" Mulan asked.

"Don't give me that!" Shang snapped, "I heard you talking about me with the princesses behind my back!"

"Shang, Mulan's been with us the whole time," Mickey jumped up, coming to Mulan's rescue, "Now, I know you're stressed out about the mission and the incident with the map, and you look really tired too. So, why don't you just go get some more sleep and we'll talk about this in the morning?" Shang looked between Sora, Mulan and the group he had just snapped in front of before releasing a huff and stomping back to his tent. The group watched him leave before Mushu popped out on Mulan's shoulder.

"Nice work there, Mouse!" The dragon stated, "That Shang's been actin' like a no good piece of dirt lately!"

"I just don't get what's up with him lately," Mulan sighed as she held her necklace.

"Mulan, relax," Max stated, "If Shang didn't like you then he wouldn't have proposed. I know that you're both a little stressed out, but just give Shang a little time to cool off." Mushu only shook his head at what Kairi had to say.

"Nuh-un Goofy Junior!" the dragon said, "The problem here is that General Hardhead over there doesn't trust Mulan. And, hate to tell you this but without trust there can be no relationship!" Mulan crossed her arms over her chest and scowled in the direction of Shang's tent,

"Well I do know one thing," she grumbled, "If this is the real Li Shang, then I don't like what I'm seeing."

~*KHIII*~

Yao, Ling and Chein-Po stood at the other end of the campite, guarding. However, moments later when the princesses emerged from their tent the soldier's focus immediately shifted to them. The princess slowly walked towards the campfire where Sora, Kairi, Riku and West were sitting. The three soldiers turned to each other, getting prepared to approach the princesses,

"After you," Yao said to ling as he bowed gentleman like.

"No, after you," Ling stated, mocking Yao's bow.

"No after you!" Yao growled.

"No after you!" Ling snarled and the two of them began to fight then wrestle on the ground. Chein-Po stared and watched them tussule for awhile before attempting to pull them apart. The two struggling soldiers, however did not pull apart so easily. The three were engaged in there tussle until they stumbled out of the bushes and landed right in front of the seven in front of the campfire.

"Do we want to know?" Sora asked while Kairi playfully punched him in the arm. The soldiers immediately jumped to their feet and turned to the princesses.

"We just wanted to see how you ladies were doing," Yao replied awkwardly and Mei blushed. Then, Ling stepped in front of Yao with a big smile on his face,

"And we wanted to ask for your help," Ling added.

"What can we help you with?" Su asked excitedly, her eyes twinkling at Chein-Po.

"You see, Chein-Po here has always had a dream," Ling continued.

"I have?" Chien-Po asked, but when Ling elbowed him in the ribs, the blue-garbbed soldier quickly changed his awnser to, "Yes, I have!"

"A dream of seeing a small village in the middle of nowhere by the moonlight!" Yao stepped in.

"Dude, that's not much of a dream!" Riku stated while Su shot him a dirty look that made the silver-head cringe.

"I think it's a wonderful dream," Su said, turning her gaze back to Chein-Po, "But, what is it you need help with?"

"Well, if your highnesses would come with us to the village, then we could still guard you," Ling suggested,

"And I could still have my dream," Chein-Po stated. Su and Mei's eyes filled with excitement as they surrounded Ting-Ting. West looked equally excited, Riku had no problem noticing that. As did Sora and Kairi.

"Can we go, Please?" Mei begged.

"Pretty please?" Su joined in, Ting-Ting looked between her two sisters before finally releasing a sigh and managing a small smile.

"Sounds like fun," Ting-Ting sighed as her sisters burst into squeals of excitement and happily began waltzing towards the village. West then suddenly jumped up from her position on the campfire and waved to the departing princesses and soldiers

"Hey wait for us!" West called.

"Wait, we're going too?" Riku asked the theif.

"Of course we are!" Kairi stated as she too stood up, dragging Sora to his feet, "Come on, when was the last time we had any fun?" As the red-head succeeded in pulling Sora up to his feet, West was doing the same with Riku. Once the boys were up, the girls began playfully dragging them to catch up with the group. As soon as the girls finally let go to go talk with Mei and Su, Sora and Riku looked down at their wrists and began rubbing them,

"I think I'm probably gonna get a bruise," Sora stated, "Kairi's sure toughened up since Organization XIII." Riku rolled his eyes,

"Oh please, Kairi's got nothing on West in the death grip awards and I've got the bruises to prove it." the silver-head retorted. When Sora raised an eyebrow in confusion, Riku moved to explain, "Remember when I said she was clingy? I meant it."

"Yeah, well I guess it's just one of the little things that makes me love Kairi that much more." Sora sighed, not really aware of what he was saying, until Riku grabbed his shoulders and the two stopped in their tracks.

"Woah, woah back up! Did you just say what I think you said? You _love_ Kairi?" Riku questioned. Realizing what he had just said, Sora blushed.

"Is it that obvious?" he asked.

"Dude, people knew long before all this started," Riku crossed his arms, "So, why haven't you told her yet? What are you waiting for?"

"I-I don't know," Sora stammered, "I guess I just don't wanna complicate our friendship right now. What if she doesn't feel the same way about me?"

"Really? You've fought dragons, genies, monster-size heartless, evil manors and an entire organization of nobodies and you're scared of something everyone knows isn't true?"

"What about you?" Sora retorted as an attempt to change the subject, "Everyone knows you like West, why haven't you told her yet?"

"It's complicated," Riku sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair and thinking back to the threat Lulu had given him. Before Sora could retort, the village came into view.

~*KHIII*~

Back in Mulan's tent, the female soldier was pacing up and down the space with Lea, Mickey, Max, Donald and Goofy watched her with concern and Mushu was looking outside the tent at something that had fought his attention. Mulan had been ranting for who knows how long and everyone in the tent was growing tired of it.

"I never noticed we were so different!" Mulan spoke angrilly, "It's like I don't even know him!"

"Now that's interesting..." Mushu stated,

"What're you talking about?" Lea asked, looking for any reason to stop Mulan talking.

"Just that the princesses ditched the camp," the dragon replied casually.

"What?" Mulan exclaimed, "Where are the guards?"

"Showing them the way," Mushu lifted up the tent's curtains, revealing the princesses, soldiers, and the four world travelers happlilly walking away from the campsite. The group inside the tent gasped in shock.

"Okay, I didn't see this one coming," Max said

"Really? You didn't think the two couples would go out by the third world?" Lea asked with a smirk, "You owe me 50 munny dog boy." Max grumbled something under his breath before reaching into his pocket and handing Lea the munny. Mickey ignored them and turned to Mulan.

"What are we going to tell Shang?" the mouse king asked while Mulan quickly grabbed her sword and tied it around her waist.

"We better handle this one ourselves." decided Mulan, "Donald, Goofy, Mickey, you guys come with me. Mushu, Max, Lea, I want you guys to stay here and make sure nothing wakes Shang up," as soon as the group of four left, a small smirk appeared on Mushu's face.

"No problem," the dragon stated. However, a few minuirtes after they left, Max and Lea heard a seies of loud noises coming from Shang's tent. The duo covered their ears and moved towards the tent to investigate.

"What do you think's making that?" Lea yelled so that he could be heard.

"I dunno," Max yelled as well, "But I do know that once Shang wakes up from all this racket, he's not going to be happy!" Mickey's suspicions were just then proved true when Shang burst out of the tent, looking extremely irritated.

"Hi there General, nice night we're having," Lea waved cheerfully as an attempt to calm him down, no such luck. Shang looked around the campsite, noticing they were the only ones there.

"Where is everyone?" Shang asked.

"Ya know, Shang," Max stepped in and sat him down around the campfire, "You know what a stressed out guy like you needs? A massage!"

"Seriously, where are the guards?" Shang demanded.

"Shang have you ever made s'mores before?" Lea asked, "It's really easy man, first you-"

"The princesses!" Shang jumped up and sprinted towards the princess's tent leaving Lea and Max siting there. Once Shang arrived at the tent, he stormed in and the first thing he noticed was that it was empty and Mei's letter. The general picked it up and read over it, "_...My duty is to my heart?_ Mulan!" Shang's face immediately filled with anger as he stormed out of the tent, towards Lea and Max with the letter still clutched in his hands, "Alright you two, I want awnsers and I want them now!" the duo cringed as they looked at each other.

"Well, we can't say we didn't try," Lea stated.

~*KHIII*~

Once the group of ten had reached the village, they realized there must be somekind of festival going on because the entire village was lit up and was bustling with activity. Su and Chein-Po immediately sprinted over to the food stands.

"We just got in some excellent ginger." the shopkeeper stated as she showed them the food.

"Ginger," Chein-Po said dreamily, "That goes very well with dumplings."

"Did you say dumplings?" Su asked as she pulled out some dumplings from her basket.

"How about some fresh ginseng?" suggested the shopkeeper.

"That makes a wonderful accompaniment to soy beans." Chein-Po stated.

"One order of soy beans." Su giggled and took the soy beans from her basket. Su and Chein-Po spent a great amount of time buying all the food they could, before moving on to the next stand, laughing with each other as they did. Mei and Yao had somehow come across a wrestling ring. The referee was standing inside the ring beside a formidable-looking wrestler.

"Who will be next to challenge the undefeated Shi Rongkai?" the referee shouted as Yao only smirked and cracked his knuckles before marching up to the ring.

"Outta my way!" Yao grumbled as he climbed into the ring.

"Yao..." Mei placed her hands over her mouth in concern while the rest of the audience burst into laughter at Yao's height as compared to Shi Rongkai. Yao's opponent snarled at him before angrily charging towards him. Yao quickly jumped out of the way and climbed onto the post. His opponent wasn't able to figure out where Yao had gone until said soldier jumped up from the post, brought his fists down and slammed Shi into the floor. The referee quickly ran over and shouted out that Yao had won. The audience ausdomatically burst into cheers and applause, but no one could top Mei whoearn over to him and hugged him as soon as he came out of the ring! "Yao, you're my hero!"

Meanwhile, wandering around the village, Ling was talking Ting-Ting's ear off. They both had stopped in front of a firework stand. The eldest sister had a look of annoyance in her eyes and was covering most of her face with her fan. As an attempt to make her feel morecomfortable with him, Ling decided to tell another joke,

"Okay, how about this one? What does Attila say when he walks through the door? Hun, I'm home!" Ling glanced towards Ting-Ting but the only response she gave him was a raised eyebrow, Ling sighed in defeat and leaned up against the stand, "I give up. I guess I'm not as funny as I think." As the words left his mouth Ling's elbow slipped on the fireworks causing them to go off around him and Ling to squeal like a little girl and jump around crazily.

Ting-Ting could no longer control herself, she bent over and let out a loud, pig snorting laugh. Ling smiled as Ting-Ting covered her mouth with her hands in order to stop herself from laughing.

"What a cute laugh." Ling stated admirably.

"No. I hate my laugh!" Ting-Ting said from behind her hands as she blushed.

"What?" Ling asked, "It's adorable. I thought you didn't have a sense of humour."

"No sense of humour?" Ting-Ting asked, when she finally composed herself she walked straight up to the stand, placed two chopsticks up her nose and shot Ling a goofy face. Ling's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of something he did too and the two burst out laughing.

West was dragging Riku all over town, looking at everything the village had to offer. The islander watched her as she poked around an accessory stand, ever since West came back into his life, he hadn't gotten a real chance alone with her until now.

"Hey Riku check it out; this bandana guards against darkness!" West exclaimed as she showed him a black bandana with indigo designs around the edges.

"It's 600 munny," the shopkeeper said and Riku's eyes widened at the price. But West only shrugged, reached into her pocket and pulled out the munny and Riku noticed she still had lots more.

"Where did you get all that munny?" Riku asked as they walked away from the stands,

"What? It's not like the heartless use it!" West defended, then she stepped right in front of Riku and held out the bandanna towards him, "For you." Riku's eyes widened in surprise.

"Really?" he asked as West gave him an enthusiastic nod.

"Thought you might need something to protect you against the darkness," West replied as Riku took the bandanna from her hands,

"Thank you," Riku said, then he tied the bandanna around his wrist, over his baggy fingerless glove, "Now we match," he stated, indicating the yellow bandanna on her wrist. Before he knew it, West had run into him, wrapped her arms around his torso and placed her head on his chest.

"I missed you," West said as Riku returned the hug,

"I missed you too."

Sora and Kairi had gone around the entire village and now stopped to rest at a small wooden bridge with a calm river flowing underneath them. They were both gazing up at the stars, and Sora had placed his hand over Kairi's.

"It's really hard to believe that all those stars up there are worlds," Kairi said.

"Yeah, if someone told me that before all this started, there's no way I'd believe them," Sora replied.

"Do you really think it's possible to see all of them?"

"I hope so; that's one thing I'd really like to do."

"Would I be able to come for the ride?" Kairi asked as the two intertwined hands and looked into each other's eyes.

"I'd love to share that experience with you," at that moment the princesses, soldiers, Riku and West had joined them on the bridge. The three Land of the Dragons couples were cuddling up and Mei was holding a stuffed panda that Yao had won for her. Riku and West were standing closely together as the group all looked up at the perfect, clear sky.

"It's so beautiful," Mei said in awe.

"Not interrupting, are we?" a voice asked from behind them, the group turned around to find Mulan standing at the base of thebridge with her arms crossed with Donald, Goofy and Mickey standing behind her.

"Yer, highnesses, why'd ya run away?" Goofy asked, "Yer supposed at get married."

"Exactly," Mulan added, "Care to explain? We're listening."

"Fa Mulan," Mei stammered, "It's love; Yao and I, Su and Chein-Po-"

"And myself and Lingy-bear," Ting-Ting interrupted, when the entire group turned to look at her she blushed, "I mean Ling." Mulan glanced towards the three couples as her expression softened, soon she burst into a smile and ran over to hug them.

"I'm so happy for all of you!" She exclaimed as they all got caught up in a group hug. Everyone laughing in excitement as the world travelers got caught into a group hug of their own.

"So sorry to break up your little party," a new voice said. The group turned around to find Shang marching over to them with an annoyed expression on his face and Lea and Max following closely behind him with emparessesd faces.

"Max! Lea! You were supposed to make sure he didn't wake up!" Donal exclaimed n a frustrated tone.

"It wasn't our fault, Donald I swar!" Max defended.

"Then why'd ya tell him where we went?" Mickey asked.

"Have you seen this guy when he's mad?" questioned Lea, "Not a pretty sight!"

"If you're all done talking about me, Would one of you care to explain this?" Shang growled as he pulled out Mei's crumpled letter, "_My duty is to my heart_? Now, who does that sound like?" at these words he looked directly at Mulan.

"General, Mei didn't mean to send that letter..." Ting-Ting tried to defend her sister, but she went ignored as Shang marched straight up to Mulan,

"You just have to place your feelings above everything, don't you?" Shang snapped, "Duty, obligation, tradition, it all means nothing to you!"

"It means everything to me!" Mulan shouted back, "My heart tells me my duty and I follow it. You're a brilliant warrior. You're brave, you're loyal, but you don't trust your heart. Sometimes I wonder if you even have one." and with that, Mulan stormed off in the direction of the campsite, leaving the group in silence as Shang turned to Yao, Ling and Chein-Po.

"As for you three; you are to guard the princesses, you are _not_ to speak to them. Is that clear?" the three soldiers nodded as the group made their way back to the campsite. No one said a word the entire way back.

~*KHIII*~

The next morning, no one was in the mood for talking. They had set off without a single word. Riku and Sora were riding with Mulan and Mushu. Lea and Max were riding with Shang. West and Kairi both sat on the horse pulling the princess's carriage while Mickey was sitting on top the carriage. And Donald and Goofy were walking alongside Yao, Ling and Chein-Po. Shang was riding at the front of the group while Mulan was at the back, the two trying to stay as far apart as possible. An idea seemed to be forming in Ling's head because he was the first to speak,

"It's too bad we can't talk to the princesses. But if we could, know what I'd say?" Ling stated as Yao and Chein-Po looked at him in confusion, " I'd tell Ting-Ting that she's the prettiest, funniest, most extraordinary girl I've ever met." Ting-Ting blushed at Ling's words.

"I would tell Princess Su that she is like fresh ginger on the rice bowl of my life." Chein-Po said as Su blushed as well.

"And I would tell Mei that she's one right babe." Yao stated while Mei giggled. Back at the back, Mulan looked like she was about to cry. Both Sora and Riku looked extremely concerned for her until Mushu had popped out onto Mulan's shoulder,

"Aww, don't look so sad, girl. Ya still got me; the dynamic duo!" the dragon said.

"We're here for you too, Mulan," Sora stated as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah," Riku agreed, "No matter what you can talk to us." Mulan managed a small smile at the boys.

"Thanks. I know I can alway count on you guys, especially you, Mushu," Mulan said as she held the dragon in her hands, "You're always looking out for me. Really, I just don't know what I'd do without you. You're the best friend I've ever had." at Mulan's words, Mushu started tearing up, until he started wailing and sobbing uncontrollably.

"I can't stand it no more!" Mushu cried, "The only thing wrong with you and Shang... is me. I'm the one that got between you!"

"What are you talking about?" Sora asked as realization suddenly hit him, "You messed up Shang's notes on the map?"

"The guy loves his map," Mushu squirmed.

"It wasn't you outside Shang's tent?" Mulan growled.

"You know how I gab."

"You woke him up after Mulan and everyone left?" Riku demanded.

"It wasn't easy. That man can sleep."

"Mushu why would you do that?" Sora asked in a demanding voice.

"Ya don't understand! If Mulan got married then I'd loose my pedestal!" The dragon defended.

"So you broke up me and Shang just so you could keep your _job_?" Mulan roared "Shang and I never had any problems after all. I've got to go tell him!" at these words, Mulan's face lit up and she commanded her horse to move up to the front of the group where Shang was. However, the group of three stopped in their tracks and their eyes widened at what they saw; their team was surrounded by an army of beserker nobodies that had their claymores up and ready to strike, the world travelers all already had their weapons drawn and were protectively surrounding the princesses. Mulan, Sora and Riku quickly jumped off their horse and drew their weapons.

"Well, well what do we have here?" a voice echoed throughout the space as a corridor of darkness appeared in front of the berserkers. Stepping out was a familiar man with long blue hair and an x-shaped scar across his face dressed in new clothing and out of the old organization coat.

"Saïx," Kairi spat in disgust as she raised Destiny's Embrace, the man only chuckled in amusement at her,

"Actually princess, it's Isa now."

**PrismRain13: yay! found the script for Mulan II :) longest chapter ever!**

**Shang: Why am I such a jerk?**

**PrismRain13: Cuz you were. So, remember to leave a review and tell me what you thought of the remade chapters and this one! Have an awesome life! **


	28. Battle At The Bridge

**PrismRain13: So, a lot of you have been asking about Isa's new clothes; i gave a description of them when Land of the Dragons started. Okay, now with that out of the way, here we are right where we left off!**

**Mushu: A cliffhanger.**

**PrismRain13: would you let that go? I told you I'd get back to this story and I did! Now lizard do the disclaimer!**

**Mushu: I'm a DRAGON! And Prism owns nothing other than the plot and her OC's**

_**Chapter 27: Battle At The Bridge**_

"Are you really so cliché that you have to make your minions do your dirty work?" Riku snarled at Isa as he, Sora and Mulan jumped off the horse and drew their weapons. Isa merely chuckled at Riku's comment.

"You will do well to remember, boy that my beserkers are one of the strongest underlings you will face. I'm sure you remember, Sora?" Isa questioned while Sora realized that he was right; he still had the bruises from both Isa's nobody and his minions; one of the toughest pairs he had faced.

"Well, you never know we might surprise you. You've always been one to underestimate your enemies, Isa." Lea countered and raised his chackrams.

"And you've always been the reckless one who always fails," Isa retorted smugly and Sora could have sworn that Lea was using every fibre of his being to stop himself from charging at the blue-haired man. West and Kairi both looked equally angry at Isa. However, as Sora looked at West, he noticed a hint of confusion in the thief's eyes, as though she didn't understand why she was angry at him.

"Anyway," Isa stated after a moment of silence, "I suppose I should explain what I'm here; I want the four keybearers and Lea to come back with me to Maleficent. She's sure to find a use for you and frankly if I let you go you'll only be in our way."

"So what are we? Chopped liver?" Donald demanded as he was held back by Goofy.

"We're not going anywhere with you!" Sora stated as he held Kairi in a protective embrace as Isa ignored the duck and smirked at the spiky-haired boy. Then Isa began to stride towards Riku. Without even a second to think about it, West had stepped protectively in front of Riku, holding her knife.

"If you want them you're gonna have to go through me Scar-face!" she roared as she charged towards the ex-nobody. West was not even a few feet in front of him when suddenly a roaring pain burst through her skull. Dropping her knife, West grasped her head, releasing a pained scream and colapsed to her knees.

"West!" Riku exclaimed as he pulled her away from Isa as her screaming lessened and she lost consciousness. The silver-haired teen glared daggers at Isa as he cradled West's limp body in his arms, "What did you do to her?" Riku screamed.

"I can honestly say that I've done nothing. But, I have heard that a ten-year long memory loss can be a... distressful thing." Isa smirked, as though he knew why West was in pain.

"Who cares what you have to say?" Lea demanded "You're going down!" and without even a second thought Lea charged at Isa, swiping at him with his chackrams. Isa blocked Lea's attacks with his claymore as though Lea were only a pest in his way, then the blue-haired man snapped his fingers commanding the beserkers to attack.

Yao, Ling and Chien-Po each protectively embraced their princesses while Mickey, Donald and Goofy ran to attack the beserkers. Riku hadn't moved from his position on the ground, until Chein-Po tapped him on the shoulder,

"Go fight; we'll look after her," The soldier stated in a reassuring tone. Riku nodded as Chein-Po scooped the unconscious theif up and the silver-head summoned Way to Dawn and ran into battle alongside the Disney residents. Donald attcked them with every spell he knew, especially using gravity, blizzard and fire. Goofy remained a fair distance away, throwing his Sheild around like a frisbee, then he slammed into the nobodies with the shield in front of him. Mickey jumped into the air and ducked under the berserkers legs, slicing his opponents and blasting them with light magic. Riku soon found himself surrounded by a circle of Isa's minions their weapons raised above their heads. Thinking of no other option, Riku pulled out the summon charm from his back pocket and held it close to his chest.

_Now or never_, Riku thought he as closed his eyes and raised the charm into the air, "Wall-e!" when Riku opened them he found himself standing in the middle of a junkyard. Then, something burst through the pile of trash, revealing it to be a small rusted cube-shaped robot. As soon as the robot saw Riku it released a small shriek of fear and turned itself into a box, shaking in fear. Riku approached the robot an gently petted it as it raised its eyes. Both Riku and the robot shook hands as the robot saw him as a friend.

"Wall-e," the robot introduced itself as the battle reappeared in front of the two of them. Riku attacked the beserkers with swipes from his Keyblade and blasts of dark magic, while Wall-e turned into a cube and ran into the nobodies like a bowling ball. Riku nodded to Wall-e that it was time to finish this and the small robot zoomed around the space with its front open, scoping up their enemies inside of him.

Once Wall-e had gathered all he could carry, the small robot stood in the centre and began shaking. Then, the robot opened his front, revealing the group of berserkers Wall-e had collected compacted in a small cube,

"Ta-da!" Wall-e said to Riku as the islander nodded and slashed through the cube, reducing all the nobodies to nothing. Once they were gone, Riku and Wall-e shook hands.

"Thanks Wall-e," Riku stated.

"Bye-bye!" the robot waved before disappearing in a flash of light and Riku, Mickey, Donald and Goofy charged into battle again(1).

Meanwhile, Lea, Sora, Kairi, Max and Mulan were fighting against Isa. The ex-nobody was proving himself to be more of a challenge then he had been a year ago, but still seemed to be out of practice. Sora swiped at Isa with his Keyblade, while Kairi followed cosely behind in similar attacks. Mulan leaped into the air and came down with her sword swiping at the ex-nobody.

Mushu had climbed onto her head and began firing balls of fire from his mouth towards their enemy in a similar fashion to when he was a summon. Max rode his skateboard around the battlefield, scraping Isa with his wheels and healing his teammates. Lea on the other hand was attacking far more violently and throwing everything he had at Isa from throwing his chackrams to summoning raging infernos of fire.

"Don't say I didn't warn you!" Lea roared as his chackrams coated with fire and he began tossing them at Isa, resulting in both scorching burns and deep cuts. Lea continued throwing his weapons until both chackrams flew into his hands, "Burn baby!" at that moment, the ground underneath Isa's feet began to grow hotter and hotter until a burst of flames surrounded Isa and Lea threw both chackrams which both hit Isa at the same time then both returned to Lea's hands(2).

Isa growled at the group until Mulan sprinted towards him. At that point the battle had gone down the canyon and now were batting on smiling wooden bridge, the ex-nobody only raised his claymore in front of him, blocking the upcoming attack from Mulan's blade. Isa pressed harder, noticing that Mulan's grip was beginning to falter. Without warning Isa pressed down harder on his claymore, causing Mulan to loose her grip on her sword and the said blade to plummet down until it was out of sight beyond the fog and clouds.

Isa smirked as he raised his claymore, preparing to strike but his attack was blocked by Lea rushing up to him and blocking with his two chackrams. Riku turned away from the berserkers he was fighting and rushed over to help Lea and Mulan but only a split second later did Isa get his claymore free and smacked it into Riku's chest, sending him falling off the edge of the bridge.

"NO!" Sora exclaimed as he watched Riku dissapear like Mulan's sword had. Kairi grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the edge into a comforting embrace as they both allowed tears to fall for their long-time friend.

"Don't worry; you'll soon be joining him." Isa stated as he raised his claymore again. Before Kairi had any time to react, Sora had shoved her out of the way causing the princess of heart to stumble to the beginning of the bridge and Sora to have the claymore slam into his chest, sending him hurtling over the edge meeting the same fate as Riku had. Kairi placed her hands over her mouth in shock and tears poured freely down her cheeks. She almost missed it when both Mulan and Shang charged towards Isa with the same goal in mind. The remaining world-travelers moved out of their way as Shang swung at the ex-nobody with his sword.

Isa merely smirked as an idea seemed to form through his mind. Without warning, the ex-nobody sliced at the bridge, causing the ropes to snap. The remaining world-travelers sprinted off the bridge, but Mulan and Shang weren't so lucky. The bridge broke directly under their feet as Isa smirked and vanished through a corridor of darkness. Thinking quickly, Mulan grabbed Shang's hand with one arm and a rope from the bridge with another.

"Shang, hang on." Mulan called desperately.

"It won't hold us both." Shang told her.

"It will!"

"Mulan... I'm sorry." Shang told her as his grip finally loosened, sending him plummeting into the cavern below.

"Shang! Shang!" Mulan whept. The female soldier remained there for a moment, until she finally composed herself enough to climb up the rope where everyone else was sitting, waiting for her. The beserkers had long since dissapeared.

"Well, not exactly what I had in mind, but it'll do." a voice said from above them. The group looked up to find Isa standing on the top of the canyon, looking at them.

"You monster!" Kairi exclained as tears fell down her cheeks, "You said you wanted us to come with you!"

"I said that you were in our way," Isa corrected, not a hint of greif in his voice, "I would have prefered you to be our hostages, but at least this way, they'll be permanently out of the way. Maleficent will just have to accept what has been done."

"You didn't change! You never had a heart at all! How could you do something like this and just walk away?" Lea roared, but Isa ignored him and dissapeared through a corridor of darkness. There was a soft moaning from behind them as West rose to a sitting position, rubbing the back of her head.

"Woah... what happened? Wait! Where's Riku Sora and Shang?" the theif demanded. Mickey placed a hand on her shoulder, preparing to deliver the news.

"West, ya see... Riku and Sora and Shang... they're gone." Mickey told her with sadness deep in his voice. West gasped and began shaking her head.

"No... NO!" West sobbed, pulling Mickey into a tearful embrace. Shang's horse whinnied before running away from the group, down the canyon.

~*KHIII*~

The remaing group rode in silence until the city of Qui Gong came into view. They stayed on the spot, all debating in their minds what the next course of action should be.

"Fa Mulan," Mei stated, "We're ready to go through with the wedding." her sisters nodded in agreement.

No. Your orders are to take care of each other." Mulan stated, the entire group gasped in shock at her words, "Losing Shang will not be meaningless. No matter what it takes, I'm finishing this mission."

"You mean, you're gonna get married to the princes?" Max asked as Mulan nodded.

"Count us in," Kairi stated as she and West stood up, "The Emperor's expecting three princesses, right?"

"Besides, it wouldn't be fair to make you do this alone," West added. Mulan nodded, thanking them as they climbed onto her horse.

"Promise you'll finish the mission for us?" Kairi asked Lea, Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Max who all nodded.

"Don't worry; you can count on us." Mickey stated as the three girls waved goodbye and rode to the kingdom.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, in a lake Shang's horse rode up to the water as a figure rose from the water, caughing for air. The horse nuzzled up to them as the figure grasped the reins, the hore pulling them out of the water.

"Good horse," the figure said weakly as he brushed his hair out of his face, revealing a weakened and pain-filled Shang. He reached into a pouch on his horse's saddle and pulled out a potion, quickly gulping down its contents. Shang looked out into the lake as he felt his strength return to him. The general glanced down and saw the water move something up to the shore; Mulan's sword. Shang bent down, picked it up and held it close to his chest, gazing out to the lake and thoughts about Mulan filling his mind. While looking out there, he noticed something brown and spiky on the surface of the water. Shang's eyes widened with realization as he saw who it was.

"Sora!" Shang exclaimed as he ran back into the water and began pulling Sora's limp body out of the water. Sora coughed as he came out of unconciousness.

"Shang..." Sora asked.

"Take it easy soldier, we all had quite the fall," Shang said.

"Guess it was a good thing I cast that Zero Gravity spell at the last minuite," a new voice remarked. The two boys turned around to find Riku laying on the edge of the river, rubbing his shoulder and drinking a potion.

"Yeah, otherwise we would have been toast," Sora remarked, "Smart move Riku."

"I try," Riku stated cockily as he tossed Sora a potion.

"We better catch up with the others; we don't know how far in rearrangements they coud have gone." Shang stated as he mounted his horse and stapped Mulan's sword to his belt. Sora and Riku nodded in agreement before climbing on the horse as well. The three rode on as fast as Shang's hose would go until Qui Gong was visible along with a few figures sitting on the ground. The horse whinnied and the group turned around revealing the three soldiers and princesses, Mickey, Lea, Donald, Goofy and Max.

"Shang! Sora! Riku! You're alive!" Donald exclaimed with excitement and the rest of the group's faces lit up.

"Yeah, thank Riku and his magic!" Shang stated, "Where's Mulan?"

"She, Kairi and West took off for Qui Gong to take our place," Ting-Ting explained.

"So we could be with who we wanted," Su added sadly.

"But West and Kairi are too young to get married." Sora pointed out.

"I really don't think that's on their mind a the moment," Mickey stated, "All three of them think they just lost someone important to them and the Emperor of Qui Gong needs three princesses. I guess they think that's what they need to do now."

"Mulan was right," Shang realized, "No one should marry someone they don't love. I'm going to Qui Gon!"

"We're going too!" Yao exclaimed.

"No, you're not. Stay here." Shang demanded, until Sora tapped him on the shoulder.

"Don't even think about talking us out of this one, General." he stated, indicating him and Riku who looked equally confident.

"I wouldn't dream of it, soldier," Shang smiled as he, Sora and Riku rode towards the city, leaving everyone else to stand there in confusion.

"Gawrsh, would you say that was an order?" Goofy asked. Chein-Po shook his head.

"I would say it was a friendly suggestion."

**PrismRain13: so to those of you who love this world; I'm sorry to say that next chapter will be the last of Land of the Dragons.**

**Mushu: till next time folks! Review and make this author's day!**

**(1): Wall-e's limit; _Trash Crunch_**

**(2): Lea's limit; _Explosion _**


	29. The Golden Dragon of Unity

**PrismRain13: *hiding from angry mob outside* okay I get it! I haven't updated in awhile, now everyone's mad at me!**

**Ling: Serves you right! You left us hanging for... *starts counting on his fingers***

**Yao: The point is that you didn't update! You should be ashamed!**

**PrismRain13: I get the point already! But I was busy!**

**Chein-Po: We apologize for the wait. PrismRain13 still does not claim ownership of anything she writes about other than the plot and her original characters. Nor does she own the selected theme song. Now enjoy the latest chapter of ****_Reconnected_****.**

_**Chapter 29: The Golden Dragon of Unity**_

Kairi sighed deeply as she gazed out on one of the balconies of Qui-Gong's palace. Night had fallen, yet the city glowed brightly from all the courful lanterns among the crowd. It seemed as though the entire city had come for the wedding that was about to happen in less than thirty minutes. Everything had happened so quickly; when the three of them had arrived and explained their situation, Qui-Gong's Lord Chin had been furious and was about to declare war. But before he could, Mulan had stated that she, West and Kairi would be taking the princesses places. Lord Chin had been impressed with Mulan, but was anything but pleased with the two female world-travellers. But, he had agreed to Mulan's proposal.

Kairi was now dressed in a long, flowing Chinese wedding gown like the one Mulan once wore to impress the matchmaker, but in various shades of pink and light purple, while her hair was tied into a loose bun. However, despite the celebrations happening in the streets, all that was on Kairi's mind was Sora and Riku. She just couldn't believe they had been taken away from her so easily. And Sora... she never got to tell him how she felt about him. A group of tears soon streamed down her cheeks. Then Kairi's thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of West squealing. The princess of heart turned around to find the thief's bodice on her dress being tightened by one of the maids.

"Calm down, dear," the maid said calmly, "You look lovely."

"How do you people breathe in these things?!" West demanded, indicating her tight bodice, "I feel like I'm suffocating!" West's wedding dress was similar to Kairi's only in different shades of green and small touches of bright yellow and her pigtailed hair had been tied into two low buns. At that moment, Mulan walked in the room dressed in a red wedding dress matching Kairi and West's. Her hair was pulled into a bun as well with a pale blue comb with a white lily on it in her hair. The maid ignored West's complaints and bowed in respect to the three girls.

"The ceremony will begin shortly, Lord Chin and the princes will see you ladies soon." The girls nodded as the maid bowed again and left the room. As soon as she was gone, Mulan went over to West and loosened her bodice as the theif let out a sigh of relief.

"Thanks," West wheezed, Mulan only nodded and moved over to the dresser where her matching headdress was resting. As Mulan picked it up, Mushu appeared from behind the mirror and climbed down on the dresser.

"Looks like we won't be a team after all, Mushu." Mulan said sadly as she placed the headdress on her head.

"Mulan. I would give up a thousand pedestals if I could stop this." Mushu replied as he and Mulan hugged.

"I doubt even the Golden Dragon of Unity could stop this," Mulan sighed, returning the hug, "Bye, Mushu." Mulan then placed Mushu back on the dresser and left the room. West and Kairi were silent for a moment before they picked up their headdresses and placed them on their heads.

"Mulan's really missing Shang, isn't she?" West asked as Kairi nodded.

"Can you really blame her? They really loved each other." Kairi replied as tears streamed down her face again, "I just can't believe they're gone."

"This is all my fault," Mushu sighed from the dresser, "If I hadn't been so selfish maybe Sora, Riku and Shang would be here." Feeling sympathy for the dragon, Kairi knelt down to Mushu's level and stroked him.

"Mushu, you can't blame yourself for what Isa did." She said, "He's the one to blame, not you."

"I just though that if I was gonna see either of you get married it would be to Sora and Riku; not a bunch of rich snobby princes."

"Yeah, that's what we thought too," West sighed, gazing out the window. At that moment, the maid stepped in again as Mushu hid under the dresser. The maid held the door open, motioning for the two girls to step out. Kairi and West gave each other looks of encouragement before leaving the room and Mushu watched them sadly.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, just outside of Qui Gong's boarders, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Max, Lea, the soldiers and the princesses were running through the dirt roads. The group paused just as Qui Gong came into view to catch their breath.

"Think we're gonna make it, Your Majesty?" Max asked the King.

Before Mickey could reply the group was surrounded by a group of heartless; big and heavily armored assault riders, small quick flying fish-like rapid thrusters and a group of soldiers. The world travelers all raised their weapons preparing for a fight while Yao, Ling and Chein-Po all held their princesses closely.

"If the heartless are here then we'd better make it!" Mickey replied as he jumped over an assault rider and slashed it in the back. Goofy threw his shied like a frisbee at a group of soldiers, knocking them off their feet while Max finished them off by riding over them on his skateboard and stopping next to his dad where father and son high-fived. Donald and Lea stood back-to-back surrounded by a ring of rapid thrusters. The duo nodded towards each other before Lea's chackrams burst into flames and were thrown at the flying heartless, slicing and burning them. Donald followed by raising his staff and summoning shards of ice and bolts of lightning. Mickey slashed through a few soldier heartless easily, landing in the middle of the battlefield. His head instantly snapped up seeing two assault riders riding towards him in opposite directions. Mickey stood in a ready stance and at the last minute, jumped out of the way causing the heartless to skewer each other.

Soon, all the heartless were gone. The team let out sighs of relief as they dismissed their weapons. The three couples ran up to them out of their hiding places.

"Are you all alright?" Mei asked with concern.

"Yeah, we're fine." Lea replied as he quickly drank a potion, "But we better get going." The entire group nodded in agreement before running back towards the city. Mickey was behind the rest of the group but stopped running as something in the dirt caught his eye. The king skidded to a stop and pushed away some of the dirt to reveal a summon charm. He picked it up and held it toward the sunlight; revealing the design to be a red and gold circle with two silhouettes of a dragon and a boy with spiky hair. He named it the Dragon Charm.

"Your Majesty! Ya coming or what?!" Donald called as Mickey nodded, pocketed the summon charm and ran to catch up with the others.

~*KHIII*~

Back in Qui Gong, Kairi, Mulan and West were standing in front of Lord Chin, a short tubby old man dressed in gold, black and red chinese robes and matching hat, he had black hair that was starting to grey in some areas, a black mustache a pointed beard. The statue of the Golden Dragon of Unity towered over them with the palace behind it. There was a prince on either side of the girls, none of which looked focused on the wedding at hand. Lord Chin cleared his throat before beginning the ceremony.

"My people, the Golden Dragon of Unity, who guides us in all we do, today sanctifies three unions that will be a blessing for all of Qui Gong!" Lord Chin proclaimed proudly. Watching from above, Mushu looked on sadly, trying to think of something he could do. "Tonight we shall unite not only two lives, but two kingdoms-" Lord Chin continued, but before he could say anything else, a loud whinny was heard. The entire city turned around to find Shang, Sora and Riku riding on Shang's horse right in the city's entrance. Mulan, Kairi and West all released equal gasps of shock, then their faces instantly lit up as the boys jumped off the horse and ran over to them. Gasps and murmurs spread throughout the crowd, but the girls ignored them as they each embraced their love. From above, Mushu looked equally shocked, but that was soon replaced with a smug expression.

"Yeah! The guys to the rescue! Lucky for Lord Chin, cos I was about to whip his butt." The dragon cheered.

"You're alive." Mulan barely whispered, as she touched Shang's face, almost expecting him to disappear at any minute.

"I couldn't let you get married without me." Shang replied with a genuine smile, as he stroked her face lovingly.

"I thought I'd lost you!" Kairi exclaimed, pulling Sora into a tight embrace.

"Trust me; no one's getting rid of me or pulling me away from you that easily!" Sora flashed his cocky grin, but still returned the hug and soothingly rubbed her back. Then, Kairi slowly pulled away from the hug and kissed him on the cheek. Sora blushed brightly and ran his finger down her cheek.

"Don't you ever, EVER! Do that to me again, mister!" West exclaimed as she threw herself onto Riku with a force so strong, he was almost knocked to the ground. Riku only smiled and undid the two buns in her hair, letting her pigtails fall freely down her back to her waist.

"You came back to me once, why shouldn't I be able to come back to you?" Riku asked as West blushed and they hugged again. Lord Chin looked just as shocked as the rest of the city, then turned to his sons who only shrugged as though losing their brides wasn't that big of a deal. Then, Lord Chin's expression turned to one of anger.

"This is outrageous! You will leave at once!" Lord Chin exclaimed angrily as the three couples turned to face him.

"Forget it, old man. We're not going anywhere!" Sora stated with confidence as he stood protectively in front of Kairi. Shang and Riku followed his lead.

"How dare you trample upon this sacred ceremony?!" Lord Chin demanded, his anger increasing.

Riku was about to retort before the city's ground began to rumble and shake and a loud roar was heard throughout the city as everyone covered their ears. Everyone looked to the palace to find the silhouette of a dragon rise into the full moon before heavilly landing on top of the palace where it could be seen clearly; a winged completely golden dragon heartless with smokes of darkness evaporating off it. The heartless emblem was clearly visible on it's chest and had its claws digging into the palace roof. It's spiked tail whipped around violently and it's long horns seemed to give off random sparks of electricity as it released another roar. Lord Chin and his sons looked up at it in fear before they all cowardly hid behind Shang.

"Wh-what is that thing?!" Lord Chin whimpered as the guys drew their weapons.

"It's a heartless; something that we need to get rid of!" replied Riku as he raised Way to Dawn, Sora doing the same with Kingdom Key.

"Go fight it!" Shang called as he pulled Lord Chin and the princes off to the side, "I'll protect them!"

Sora and Riku were just about to charge into battle before Sora felt a tap on his shoulder. Both boys turned around to find Mulan, Kairi and West standing there with looks of confidence on their faces as they discarded their headdresses.

"Don't even think about fighting this one without us!" Mulan smirked.

"Then you're gonna need this," Shang stated as he reached behind his back and pulled out Mulan's sword. Mulan firmly grasped the hilt and nodded her head towards Shang, before pointing the Fa family sword at the golden dragon heartless. She, Kairi and West all tossed their headdresses to the side as Destiny's Embrace appeared in Kairi's hand and West pulled out Pickpocket from the sash around her dress.

"Who gave them the right to carry weapons?!" Lord Chin demanded loudly, pointing at West and Kairi as Shang pulled them away from the palace.

"Hey! Be thankful we did!" Kairi retorted as she undid her bun, letting her hair fall down a little ways past her shoulders. The heartless roared before swinging its tail in Sora's direction, but was blocked by a flying chackram. The team looked up into the air and found Lea jumping up and catching his chackram in his empty hand as he landed feet-first in front of the team.

"Didn't miss anything interesting, did we?" Lea asked with a simirk. Sora looked behind him and noticed in the crowd Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Max, Yao, Ling, Chein-Po and the princesses were running towards them.

"Better late than never," Riku rolled his eyes. The golden dragon looked towards the people coming, and roared as its horns glowed and a translucent barrier appeared around it and the six who were ready to fight it. The team outside skidded to a stop just as the barrier appeared and an entire army of heartless surrounded them. They consisted of nightwalkers, bolt towers, soldiers and shadows. The guys all raised their weapons, looking at the heartless with a desire to strike. Yao, Ling and Chein-Po all stood protectively in front of their princesses.

"Go hide!" Ling told them as he slashed at a shadow.

"We can't just leave you here!" Ting-Ting exclaimed to her love. Yao was about to retort before his focus turned back to the battle. The three sisters looked between each other until Mei noticed three discarded lanterns on long poles. The princesses nodded towards each other and each grabbed a lantern. Mei grabbed a pink one, Su grabbed an orange one and Ting-Ting took the purple one. Once armed, the princesses stood beside the rest of the team, pointing their lanterns at the heartless. The lanterns glowed as the princesses attacked the heartless with various light magic spells. As their loves and the world travellers fought alongside them.

Meanwhile, inside the barrier, the golden dragon swiped at Mulan with its claws, but Mulan countered the attack by swinging her sword. Lea followed her lead and threw his flaming chackrams towards the heartless's head, causing major damage. The golden dragon swiped its claws and tail at the team while Riku roughly attacked its tail with all the strength he had and Sora and Kairi attacked it's claws.

West, following Lea's lead, threw Pickpocket at the heartless's head, slashing a deep cut along its nose. The heartless howled in pain and didn't notice when Riku stabbed it in the arm. Pickpocket returned to West's hand just as both Sora and Lea jumped up and attacked its horns with fire and blizzard magic. Once everyone was back on the ground, the golden dragon raises it's horns as they began to spark more violently. The heartless released another roar as bolts of lightning rained down on the team. Kairi and Sora put up reflect spells to protect everyone, but damage was still done. The group moaned in pain as Kairi cast a cure spell and West distributed potions she stole.

From above, Mushu watched the battle until he couldn't watch anymore. The dragon jumped down from the statue and ran all the way to where Mulan was fighting. Mushu climbed on to her shoulder as the two teammates nodded towards each other.

"Mushu!" Mulan shouted, pointing her sword at the heartless.

"I'm on fire!" Mushu replied with enthusiasm as he jumped up and shot small balls of fire at the heartless. Both Mulan and Mushu then levitated into the air and flew around the heartless, attacking it with fire magic and deep slashes from the Fa family sword. Once enough damage was done both Mulan and Mushu stood in front of the heartless again. Then, Mushu breathed on the sword, bursting it into flames. Mulan jumped into the air with Mushu still on her shoulder. She brought the sword down on the heartless, flames erupting as the sword made contact.

"For China!" the warrior shouted as the flames disappeared(1). The heartless roared in pain, then growled menacingly at the team. Sora and Mulan nodded towards each other as the heartless summoned more bolts of lightning, but the duo jumped out of the way just in time. Following their lead, Kairi fired a blast of blizzard magic at the horns, numbing them while Lea used his fire magic to burn its tail and , distracting it. West and Riku stood strongly in front of the heartless, before climbing up its body and attacking its horns, dubbing them as its weak spot. As a desperate attempt to finish the battle, Mulan and Sora jumped into the air with their blades in hand and at the same time stabbed the heartless through the horns as it released a final howl of pain before it began to fade, then disappear completely as a large, glowing crystallized heart flew into the sky.

Once the golden dragon heartless was gone, the barrier vanished along with it and so did the remaining heartless underlings. The team all released sighs of relief as Shang, Lord Chin and the princes emerged from the crowd. Without a second thought, Shang rushed towards Mulan and enveloped her in a loving embrace.

"Are you alright?" Shang almost demanded.

"Yeah, I am now." Mulan replied softly, returning the hug. Then, the entire group looked toward Lord Chin who had his arms crossed and wore a deep scowl on his face.

"Though I must thank you for disposing of that horrid creature, I still had an agreement with the Emperor. Now I must ask you intruders to leave immediately!" Lord Chin demanded with a snooty tone as the team groaned in defeat.

"Great, we save his sorry butt and the guy won't even consider other people's feelings!" Max grumbled.

"Where's the dang Dragon of Unity when you need him?!" Donald agreed. Shang stood protectively in front of Mulan as he looked Lord Chin in the eye.

"My lord, I love Mulan. I don't care what the rules say. If she'll have me, I intend to marry her right here. Right now." Shang stated, as Mulan looked at him blushing and touched by his words. However, Shang's statement only seemed to have angered Lord Chin.

"Insolent dog. Seize them!" Lord Chin ordered pointing at Shang and the world travellers and the guards began to move towards them. However, before the guards could move any further towards them, a giant burst of flames rained down in front of them. The group looked up to find the flames were coming from the mouth of the statue of the Golden Dragon of Unity.

"STOP! What's with all this drama?" A familiar voice erupted from the statue.

"The Golden Dragon of Unity! He lives!" Someone in the crowd exclaimed as the entire city, including Lord Chin bowed before the statue.

"Mushu?" Mulan questioned quietly with a raised eyebrow before Sora realized that the voice really did sound like Mushu. The Keyblade Master squinted, and in the statue's mouth he could just barely see Mushu standing there with a megaphone in his hand.

"You dang right, I live," Mushu exclaimed into the megaphone, "So you best drop your dumpling-eating behind on down and tell me why we ain't busting out the vows!"

"But your greatness," Lord Chin stammered in fear, "General Li-Shang is not a son of Qui Gong."

"Silence!" Mushu roared as another burst of flames erupted from the statue's mouth and Lord Chin cowered behind Shang again, "I am the Golden Dragon of Unity, and I decide whom to Unify! My all-seeing eye has peered into the very heart of China. And I've never seen two people more right for one another than this lovely couple right here, Mulan and Shang. Give it up for them, would you please?" With that said, the entire city burst into applause as Mulan and Shang embraced. "Now, I command you to proceed at once!"

"Yes, your greatness. As you command." Lord Chin whimpered. Mushu cleared his throat from inside the statued before continuing.

"Let's get to business. Mulan, do you love Shang? Of course. Shang, do you love Mulan? Yes. Moving on. By the power vested in me, by me, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife!" the city's and the world-traveller's cheers grew louder as Shang and Mulan kissed passionately, "You got anything to say, Lord Double Chin?" Mushu snarled at Qui Gong's emperor.

"Yes, I mean, no. I mean, whatever you say." The Lord pouted and cowered more, them Mushu turned to the three princesses and the three soldiers.

"And furthermore, I hereby decree that the princesses of the Middle Kingdom, are released from their vow, and may marry whomsoever they please. And who pleases them, that's very important!" The princess squealed with joy before embracing Yao, Ling and Chein-Po and kissing their romantic counterpart. Kairi hid a snicker behind her hand as she looked up at the statue.

"Excuse me, Mr. Golden Dragon of Unity," She giggled softly before continuing."I think you forgot about us." Indicating herself and West.

"Nuh-uh little lady!" Mushu exclaimed clearing his throat, "As my final decree for the evening; Kairi and West will be free from the vow to unify the two kingdoms and return travelling the worlds with those they truly care about; their friends. And will get married to whoever they want whenever they choose!" The team of world-travellers beamed with excitement before Kairi embraced Sora and West embraced Riku.

At that moment, the statue began to glow brightly with small rings of light surrounding it. Sora and Kairi looked up at the statue, still holding their embrace until Sora motioned for her to unseal the gate. Kairi nodded and stepped towards the statue, Destiny's Embrace appearing in her hands. The tip of the keyblade glowed as a glowing crown emblem appeared underneath her feet, the wind whipping around her. Then, a ribbon of light shot straight up into the sky from the statue, forming the shape of a keyhole. Kairi pointed Destiny's Embrace at the Keyhole as another beam of light shot from the tip of her keyblade, into the keyhole.

Once the light died down, Mulan walked up to the team of world-travellers.

"I guess that means it's time for you to go now," Mulan asked while Sora nodded.

"Yeah, I guess," Sora sighed, not quite wanting to leave Mulan, Shang, Mushu and everyone else. Mulan noticed this and enveloped him in a sisterly hug.

"Hey, it's not forever, okay," Mulan said with a simle, "No matter what, you can't forget your friends." Sora nodded as he returned the hug.

"Yeah, I'll see you around Mulan."

"And soldier," Shang said as he stepped forward and Riku walked up beside Sora, "You two take care of Kairi and West, don't make the same mistake I did and push away." Both West and Kairi blushed as Mushu climbed onto the thief's shoulder.

"Yeah, ya know what the emperor says 'You don't meet a girl like that every dynasty'!" Mushu stated. West giggled as she scratched Mushu behind the ears.

"Whatever you say, Golden Dragon of Unity." She whispered so Lord Chin couldn't hear her.

"Yo Riku," Mushu called over to the silver head, "Ya sure you still don't need a guardian dragon with ya!"

"We'll be fine, Mushu but thanks anyway!" Riku replied as Mickey stepped in front of the group.

"Welp, I guess it's time for us ta go now." The king stated. The team of world-travellers nodded and waved as Mushu returned to Mulan's shoulder, "Thanks for everything guys!"

"Don't ya go forgettin' about us now!" Goofy added.

"See ya soon!" Max waved. Kairi and West suddenly stopped in their tracks, looked down at themselves, noticing that they were still wearing their wedding dresses.

"Uh, your majesty," Kairi called, "Think me and West can get changed first?"

**PrismRain13: everyone happy? No need left to form an angry mob? Yay!**

**Ling: here's a hint for the next world; the villain was seen in Maleficent's new team a couple chapters ago.**

**Yao: and the summon's a character from a Disney TV series. Guess who!**

**Chein-Po: hope you enjoyed the chapter; remember to review.**

**PrismRain13: later taters!**

**(1): Mulan's Limit; Dragonblaze**


	30. Demon Llama!

**PrismRain13: okay, I just really wanted to get this out before I forgot. So yay I didn't wait forever to update!**

**Isa: I still don't understand why I have to be here.**

**PrismRain13: because I didn't want anyone here who would spoil the next word. And this is your punishment for being a total jerk in the last world!**

**Isa: *snarl* Prism owns absolutely nothing.**

**PrismRain13: Really? That's all you're gonna give me?!**

**Isa: Take it or leave it.**

**PrismRain13: ...fine.**

_**Chapter 29: Demon Llama!**_

On a world not too far from the Land of the Dragons, Maleficent gazed out the window of a large, golden palace which had been recently redecorated with dark purple tapestries and terrifying sculptures. The witch still did not believe what Isa told her to be true. For as long as she had known Sora and Riku they had been extremely difficult to get rid of, she just did not trust Isa's judgement.

Dismissing the thought for now, Malefient wandered down the halls of the palace before coming upon an elegant purple living room where two members of her new inner circle were sitting, drinking tea. The first was the woman with the black permed hair and red dress, while the second was an old woman with pale wrinkled skin, wearing a dark purple dress with a plumage collar, matching headress and large purple earrings. She was currently lying on a long matching chaise as though she owned the palace, which as Maleficent had currently discovered, she did

"I must admit Yzma, you have done an excellent job claiming your world." Maleficent told the old woman as she sat down and drank her tea.

"Oh please Maleficent," Yzma stated, "What I have here is nothing compared to what you have accomplished."

"Have you already forgotten the mistake you've made in disposing the your Emperor?" The black-haired woman smirked. Yzma snorted in amusement as she rolled her eyes towards the woman.

"Honestly, Gothel you're judging me when all you've ever done is keep a girl locked up in a tower for eighteen years?" Yzma scoffed.

"Oh, if you only knew what wonders my little girl can do." Gothel smirked, until Maeficent cleared her throat and the two ladies turned their entire attention towards the witch.

"If the two of you have finished your bickering, I'd like to get down to business." The witch was about to continue before a new voice interrupted her.

"I made you ladies some fresh spinach puffs!" The voice called, as a black-haired muscular young man dressed in blue and yellow carrying a tray of puffs waltzed into the room. "You must be starving after your long trip!" The man set the tray of puffs down on the coffee table while Gothel and Maleficent each took one, looking at it curiously. Yzma rubbed her trembles soothingly and glared at the young man.

"Kronk," Yzma growled, "How many times do I have to tell you not to interrupt my meetings?" Kronk raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"But this is your first one here." Kronk stated while Yzma face palmed.

"Let me guess; this is your right hand man." Gothel smirked. "The one who mixed up your poisons to kill your emperor."

"Well, I have to admit Kronk had me worried when he mixed up those poisons, but now that Kuzco is dead, all is forgiven." Yzma said as she lounged on the chaise, completely relaxed. However, when Kronk heard what she had to say, he started to shake. The tray dropped with a mighty crash. Maleficent, Gothel and Yzma turned their attention towards him as Kronk struggled to pick up what he had dropped.

"Ah. Oh, yeah, yeah. He's...heh. He's dead, all right. Heh heh. I mean, you can't get much deader than he - than he is right now. Unless, of course, we killed him again." Kronk stammered with an awkward smile on his face.

"I suppose..." Yzma raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, look, the royal dresser's here!" Kronk stated, walking over to where a plump man carrying multiple fabrics stood.

"Kronk... " Yzma called, watching him. Then she lifted herself off the chaise and strode over to him.

"I should tell you right now I'm kind of hard to fit."

"Kronk..."

"I wear a 66 long and a 31 waist." Upon the sight of the new empress the royal dresser gulped and started putting away his fabrics. He was unable to finish as Yzma pushed him off the ledge, causing him to release a loud scream. She then turned her attention back to Kronk.

"Kuzco is dead, right?" Yzma demanded, "Tell me Kuzco's dead. I need to hear these words."

"Do you need to hear all those words exactly?" Kronk asked

"He's still alive?!" Yzma exclaimed angrilly through her teeth.

"Well, he's not as dead as we would've hoped. I just thought I'd give you the heads-up in case Kuzco ever came back." Kronk shifted awkwardly watching as Yzma grew angrier by the second.

"He can't come back!" Yzma roared, grabbing a firm hold on Kronk's shirt ad pulling him down to her level. "You and I are going out to find him! If he talks, we are through! Now let's move!" When Yzma finally composed herself, she looked up to find Maleficent and Gothel were staring at her, then Gothel burst out laughing.

"Oh, if only you could see your face!" Gothel laughed, "You look ridiculous!" Yzma snarled at Gothel before snapping her fingers and a small army of heartless appeared. They all resembled black jaguars with yellow eyes and purple paws and tail tip with the heartless symbol on their foreheads.

"Find Kuzco!" Yzma ordered the heartless, "Search everywhere! And bring him back here so I can finish him off!" The heartless bowed in respect before vanishing through corridors of darkness. The old woman began to pull Kronk out of the place, but not before turning back to Gothel, smirking. "Oh, and I'd do something about those wrinkles if I were you, Gothel dear." As soon as Yzma and Kronk were gone Gothel quickly pulled out a mirror and started examining her face.

"I don't have any wrinkles, do I?" Gothel asked Maleficent who stood up from her seat.

"Only a few. I think it's a sign you go and return to your darling daughter, Rapunzel was it?" Maleficent smirked as she vanished through a corridor of darkness. Watching her leave, Gothel put her hands on her hips and pouted.

"If you ask me Yzma is one to talk."

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, back on the Gummi Ship, Sora and his team were travelling towards the next world. At the wheel was Mickey with Donald and Goofy on either side of him. Sora and Max were sitting together, while Lea and Riku were sitting across from them. Kairi and West had just emerged from the back of the ship now back in their regular clothes, out of Qui Gong's wedding dressers.

"Man, does it feel good to get out of that dress! I don't know how some people survive in those things." West breathed.

"Oh, come on you two were taking down that heartless with no problem in those things!" Lea smirked.

"They were still hard and uncomfortable to fight in, Lea." Kairi retorted. Before the fire-head could reply, the dashboard started to beep, signalling the approach of a world's atmosphere. Mickey, who was driving looked straight ahead noticing a world with a jungle, large palace, and hiltop village.

"Looks like a new world," Mickey stated, "Get ready to land soon everyone." Excitement overtaking him, Sora moved in between Goofy and Mickey to take a good look at the world.

"Wonder who lives here." Sora wondered. "Do you think the heartless are there yet your majesty?"

"I'm not sure Sora, but I guess we'll find out." Mickey replied, the Gummi Ship entering the world.

_**Kuzco Empire**_

In the middle of a hilltop village, nine beams of light rained down. then disappeared to reveal the team of nine world-travellers. The group stayed silent for awhile, taking in the sights of the night sky, lush lawns and all the huts decorating the hill. The village was quiet and no one seemed to be around.

"Gawrsh, think anyone's home?" Goofy wondered out loud as he and Max looked around the village.

"It's pretty late, maybe everyone went to bed already." Kairi suggested. Mickey nodded his head while everyone looked around the village again. Riku looked up at the hill, noticing that a faint glow was coming from the one hut on the top of the hill.

"Looks like someone's home up there. They'll probably be the only people who want to talk this late." Riku stated while the group looked up the hill.

"Good call Riku," complimented Sora, "Maybe they'll let us stay the night; I'm pretty tired." The rest of the group nodded in agreement, finally noticing how tired they really were.

"Same here, man." Lea stretched, "What I wouldn't give for a warm fire and comfy bed right now." Sora rolled his eyes towards Lea, but said nothing as he and the rest of the team made their way up the hill. The walk was peaceful without a single heartless in sight. No one said a word, as they were all tired and enjoying the silence. Soon they arrived at the top of the hill where one of the natives was sitting on the edge of a small stone pond. He was an overweight man in a green hand-made poncho, sandals and a brown hat. He had a pet llama who was grazing with a cart still attached to its back. Sora looked towards the man and noticed that he looked sad about something. Without a second thought, the teenager walked over to the man. Feeling that he wasn't alone anymore, the man lifted his head up and looked at the world-travellers with a confused expression on his face.

"Sir, are you alright?" Sora asked while the man stood up and whipped away barely visible tears.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said, "I'm just tired from my trip up to the city. Who are you? I don't think I've ever seen any of you around here before."

"I'm Sora, and these are my friends," the young Keyblade Master replied indicating the group behind him, "Riku, Kairi, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Max, Lea and West."

"It's nice to meet all of you, my name's Pacha. I'm the village leader." Pacha replied with kindness as he shook everyone's hand. "So where are you all from?" At his question, the entire group tensed up and looked around at each other. No one said anything until Mickey stepped forward.

"We're from kinda far away." The king said, "We've just been travelling for a long time so it's hard to say exactly where."

"I see. Do you need anywhere to stay? I'm sure my wife won't mind; she loves house guests." Pacha asked and nodded his understanding.

"Do you even have enough room? We wouldn't want to be an inconvenience to you or your family." Kairi asked while Pacha shook his head.

"No, but no one else is going to be much help this late at night. And we have more than enough blankets." The group looked between one another, the final decision.

"Gawrsh, thanks Pacha that's awful nice of you." Goofy said, speaking for everyone.

"So, I'll just put my pet llama here away then we can head on in." Pacha smiled, before noticing that one of the bags on his cart was moving. Donald was the first one to notice and started poking the bag.

"Whacha got in here, fish?" The duck asked while Pacha shook his head and watched the bag.

"I don't even remember this bag," Pacha stated while he undid it. And out of the bag to everyone's surprise emerged another dizzy black and red-furred llama. "Where'd you come from, little guy?" Pacha asked

"No touchy." The llama slurred. Everyone jumped in surprise at hearing the llama talk. West yelped and clung on to Riku's arm. Lea stumbled backwards into Mickey causing him and Max to fall to the ground, Goofy held up his sheild, Sora stood protectively in front of Kairi and Donald jumped into Pacha's arms, shaking.

"Aah! Demon llama!" Donald screamed pointing at the talking llama. The black-furred llama shook his head and looked around, panicking.

"Demon llama?! Where?" the llama demanded before coming face-to-face with Pacha's llama. Both screamed before the talking llama ran out of the bag and slammed face-first into Goofy's shield, then stumbled backwards.

"Uh, sorry Mr. Demon Llama." Goofy said sheepishly looking down at the llama.

"Ow, my head..." the llama moaned in pain. Pacha dropped Donald on the ground before cautiously approaching the llama.

"Okay, demon llama. Just take it easy. We mean you no harm." the man said slowly and calmly. The llama shook his head, shaking off the dizzyness.

"What are you talking about" the llama asked until he noticed Pacha, staggered to his hooves and glared "- oh, wait. I know you. You're that whiny peasant." Pacha gasped as he seemed to notice something about the llama as well.

"Emperor Kuzco?"

**PrismRain13: so this world's based on the Disney movie _The Emperor's New Groove_ (seriously hilarious movie!) and Gothel's from Disney's _Tangled_.**

**Isa: can I go now?**

**PrismRain13: NO! Remember to review to your friendly Neighbourhood nerd! And if anyone wants to post any fanart of this story please let me know!**


	31. Killer Jaguars

**PrismRain13: I'm back! And Happy Hollidays! Disclaimer, please Kuzco!**

**Kuzco: eww... That sounds like work. **

**PrismRain13: *glares***

**Kuzco: ...fine. Prism still owns nothing other than the plot and her OC's. KH belongs to Disney and Square Enix, my movie belongs to Disney and _Final Distance_ belongs to Utada Hikaru. Enjoy this chapter full of... ME!**

_**Chapter 30: Killer Jaguars**_

"Hold up, your Emperor is a llama?!" Lea exclaimed, hardly believing what Pacha had told them. "What kind of crazy world is this?!" The rest of the group looked upon Kuzco the llama, all with equal expressions of shock.

"He wasn't like this the last time I saw him; I don't know how this happened." Pacha replied honestly.

"Hey! I'm right here!" Kuzco snapped, unaware of he hooves he was using to balance himself, "Whatever you peasants have to say you can say to your emperor!" The team of world travellers shifted around uncomfortably, looking between each other until Sora stepped forward.

"Well... Uhh... You see... You don't exactly..." Sora stammered, trying to find the right words to bring the news down gently. "Look like an emperor."

"What do you mean I don't look like an emperor?!" Kuzco demanded rudely.

"Ever heard of a mirror?" West grumbled under her breath, but Kuzco had heard her.

"You better show more respect onwards your emperor missy! With the snap of my fingers-" Kuzco had raised his hoof to demonstrate, but gasped in shock when he saw the hooves. "Ahh! It can't be!" In a split second, Kuzco had yanked Goofy's sheild right out of his hands to find his llama face. "Agh! My face! My beautiful, beautiful face! I'm an ugly, stinky llama! Llama face!" Kuzco had thrown the shield to the ground and began screaming and crying on the ground.

"Wait, okay, your Majesty. Calm down." Pacha said in an effort to calm the young emperor down. Goofy had picked up his shield and was patting Kuzco's back in a comforting manner.

"What happened?" Mickey asked out of concern as Kuzco slapped himself to get out of the state he was in.

"I'm tryin' to figure that out, okay?" Kuzco snapped, but then seemed to recognize something about Pacha. "I remember you. I remember telling you that I was building my pool where your house was."

"You were going to build a pool where Pacha's house was?" Riku demanded. "Why?"

"It was going to be my birthday gift to me!" Kuzco retorted, brushing Riku off to the side and going back to his memories. "And then you got mad at me... And you turned me into a llama!"

"What? No, I did not!" Pacha stammered angrily.

"Yes! And then you kidnapped me!"

"Why would I kidnap a llama?"

"I have no idea! You're the criminal mastermind, not me!" Kuzco and Pacha both glared at each other angrily, prepared at any minute to strike before Kairi and Sora stepped in between them, West, Mickey and Donald pulled back Kuzco while Lea, Riku, Goofy and Max tried to restrain Pacha.

"Both of you calm down!" Kairi said. "Fighting isn't going to solve anything!"

"What part of 'no touchy' do you peasants not understand?!" Kuzco demanded the group, obviously ignoring what Kairi had to say.

"Peasant?! I'll show you no touchy!" Donald growled, jumping into a tantrum with Mickey trying to restrain him.

"Donald! You're not setting a very good example here!" Mickey tried to stay calm while holding the squirming duck. Riku face palmed, gaining a headache from the fighting. Sora puffed out his cheeks, took a deep breath, then turned back to Pacha and Kuzco.

"Let's just forget about how this happened for a second, okay?" The young keyblade master asked. "Does anyone know how we can reverse this?"

"We have to get back to the palace!" Kuzco exclaimed. "My advisor, well ex-advisor Yzma has a 'secret lab'. I'll just snap my fingers and order her to change me back!"

"What fingers?" Max grumbled to Lea. Kuzco meanwhile had started wobbly walking down the dirt trail.

"Hey, you guys! No time to waste. Let's go!" The llama snapped at the people surrounding him. But no one made a move to follow him. Kuzco noticed and pointed towards the trail. "Hey, I want to get out of this body. Wouldn't you? Now, let's go!" Still, no one moved towards him, except for Pacha who stepped in front of the group with his arms crossed.

"Build your summer home somewhere else." Was all he said. In response, Kuzco glared and started marching back towards him.

"You want to run that by me again?" Kuzco asked dangerously.

"I can't let you go back unless you change your mind and build your summer home somewhere else." Pacha spoke calmly, but was surprised when Kuzco smirked.

"I got a little secret for you. Come here. No, closer." Kuzco smirked, Pacha leaned in close to him but was unprepared when Kuzco screamed, "I DON'T MAKE DEALS WITH PEASANTS!"

"Then I guess we can't take you back to the palace." Riku snorted.

"Fine, I don't need you. I can find my own way back." Kuzco huffed, the llama turning back down towards the dirt trail. But, was stopped when Pacha stepped in front of him.

"I wouldn't recommend it. It's a little dangerous if you don't know the way." The villager warned.

"Nice try, pal." Kuzco smirked, walking right past him into the jungle.

"No, really, I'm telling you, there are jaguars and snakes and quicksand!" Pacha called after him when Kuzco started singing.

"La la la la. I'm not listening!" Kuzco sang off-key as he walked further and further away.

"I'm not kidding! Listen, you cannot go in there!"

"La la la. Still not listening!" at that moment, Kuzco had disappeared through the foliage of the jungle and Pacha was steaming with irritation.

"Aw, you... Fine. Fine. Go ahead!" Pacha roared after him.

"Gawrsh. you're really gonna let him go on his own?" Goofy asked.

"If there's no Kuzco, there's no Kuzcotopia. Takes care of my problem." Pacha replied.

"I like the way you think, man!" Lea stated, swinging his arm over the villager's shoulder. "Now why don't we go talk to your wife so we can all get some shut eye. I'm beat."

"But Lea, Kuzco could die out there!" Kairi protested.

"Relax, Kairi." Donald said. "Like Pacha said; he's not our problem anymore!"

"So we're just going to sit here? What if Kuzco gets attacked? Who's going to help him?"

"Kairi's right." Pacha sighed. "I know I'm probably going to regret this, but we need to at least help Kuzco through the jungle."

"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Mickey exclaimed, Pacha talking the lead into the jungle, most of the world-travellers following him. Lea, Max and Donald were the only ones who didn't move until after their group had long since disappeared through the jungle.

"We're following them aren't we?" Lea asked, crossing his arms.

"Yep." Max replied.

"We're going to save the whiny emperor who probably won't thank us?"

"Yeah." grumbled Donald.

"Man, we don't get a break!" Lea grumbled as he, Max and Donald wandered into the jungle.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile deep within in the damp, dark, cold jungle, Kuzco wandered along a dirt path, laughing at the scenery and mocking Pacha's warnings.

"Scary jungle. Right. Ooh, a leaf. Ooh, it might attack me. Oh, it's a scary tree. I'm afraid. Ha ha. Please. Never find my way? I'm the emperor, and as such, I'm born with an innate sense of direction. Okay, where am I? Wha-" Kuzco shivered in fear, noticing how scary the jungle really was.

Suddenly, a small cute squirrel holding an acorn jumped out of the bushes. "Hmm. What do you want?" Kuzco snapped rudely. The squirrel only held out his acorn for Kuzco. "Oh, for me? Why, I don't know what to say." The squirrel blushed before Kuzco threw the acorn hard on the squirrel's head, causing him to release a yelp of pain. "Hit the road, Bucky!" The emperor snapped as he began walking away, but Kuzco was stopped dead in his tracks by the jaguar heartless, known as the wild pouncers appearing out of dark shadows, surrounding the stunned llama. The squirrel smirked, pulled out a long red balloon animal and holding a sharp needle to it.

"No, no. No, no, no, no. No, no. No, don't." Kuzco practically begged. The squirrel popped the balloon with a big bang, but the heatless didn't move. "HA!" Kuzco exclaimed, but was stopped when the heartless all released killer roars. "Heh... Heheh... What do ya know?.. Killer jaguars..." Kuzco nervously stammered, his knees shaking. A wild pouncer snarled at the llama and prepared to pounce before it was hit in the back by a shield. A second later Goofy jumped up, grabbed his shield and stood protectively in front of Kuzco. That same heartless was attacked by swipes from Riku and Sora's keyblades and a blast of light magic from Kairi.

West and Mickey shoved their way through the heartless in front of Kuzco and Pacha stood off to the side. A wild pouncer jumped towards Kuzco, but was knocked back by an attack from Mickey. West jumped on to the same heartless and stabbed it in the shoulder, reducing it to nothing. Goofy meanwhile was warding off two wild pouncers with his shield, but didn't notice when another began producing purple bubbles and foam from its mouth. The heartless spat the material at Goofy, causing him to become poisoned and his health to rapidly decrease.

West noticed his current situation, quickly pulled out the antidote she kept from Pocahontas's world and tossed it to him. Goofy grabbed the antidote and drank it, causing the poison to be lifted. Riku used all the magic he knew to attack the heartless followed by Goofy hitting the heartless with his shield. Sora and Kuzco found themselves standing back to back, surrounded by three of the wild pouncers. Sora tossed his keyblade at the heartless, hitting them all before Kingdom Key returned to his hand. Kuzco resorted to trampling and kicking the heartless with his llama hooves, not causing a great deal of damage but the group was happy to see that he was pulling his own weight. Kairi soon found herself surrounded by the remaining wild pouncers, but wasn't too concerned.

"I won't give in!" The princess placed her hand over her heart, levitating into the air as a flower made of light magic appeared underneath her feet. She danced around the flower sending ribbons of light to attack the heartless. After a few ribbons had been sent out, Kairi lifted Destiny's Embrace into the air, a ball of light intensifying at the tip. "Light, give me strength!" The ball continued to grow until it exploded into fireworks of light, dealing a final blow to all the remaining heartless.(1)

Feeling safe, Pacha emerged from the sidelines and Kuzco shook all the dirt off his coat. "Am I glad you guys showed up." Kuzco grinned. "Because now that you're here, you will take me back to the palace!" The group of world-travellers slumped in defeat. "I'll have Yzma change me back, and then I'll start construction on Kuzcotopia. Oh, yeah!" Pacha released a deep breath before approaching his emperor calmly.

"Okay, now, look, I think we all got off on the wrong foot here." Pacha said, Kuzco nodded. "I just think if you really thought about it, you'd decide to build your home on a different hilltop."

"And why would I do that?" Kuzco asked in a snobbish tone.

"Because..." Sora started. "deep down, I think you'll realize that you're forcing an entire village out of their homes just for you."

"And that's...bad?" Kuzco asked, the entire group nodded. "Mmm. Now take me back!" Pacha released a gasp of frustration, stepping in front of the group.

"What? Wait, wait. How can you be this way? All you care about is building your summer home and filling it with stuff for you!" The villager retorted angrily.

"Uh, yeah. Doy. Me. Everyone else in the kingdom gets it. You're the only ones that doesn't seem to be with the program? Am I right?" Kuzco snapped.

"You know what? Someday, you're going to wind up all alone, and you'll have no one to blame but yourself." Pacha replied calmly while Kuzco rolled his eyes.

"Thanks for that. I'll log that away. Now, for the final time, I order you all to take me back to the palace!"

"Looks to me like you're stuck out here, because unless you change your mind, I'm not taking you back."

"Fine! I don't need you! I'll just get my loyal bodyguards to take me back!" Kuzco retorted.

"Kuzco, we're not helping you either!" Mickey told him, crossing his arms.

"What?! Why not?!" The emperor demanded.

"You really expect us to help you after everything you've said and plan to do?" Kairi asked.

"Call me crazy, but I'm not too thrilled about helping a selfish, spoiled, whiny brat like you." Riku added. "Not unless you change your mind about this whole summer-home thing." Kuzco could only hang his mouth open in shock at the sound of what the group had to say.

"We should start a fire and camp here for the night." Pacha said. "It's getting late and I think we're all too tired to make it back to the village.

"What about Lea, Max and Donald?" Sora asked with concern.

"I wouldn't worry too much about them, Sora." Goofy replied. "They can take care of themselves and they'll catch up with us in no time! I know my boy's a toughie!" Feeling better, Sora nodded and joined the group in setting up camp, leaving behind a pouty Kuzco.

"_Because unless you change your mind, I'm not taking you back_. Me, me, me. Moo, moo, moo." Kuzco mocked, picking up a small rock and throwing it directly in Pacha's head. The group of seven instantly turned around and glared at the llama who was trying to look as innocent as possible. "Huh? What? I didn't do anything. I didn't - Somebody's throwing stuff. You going to build a fire or what? What's going on?" Kuzco mumbled, slinking off against a rock.

"Can you believe that jerk?" West grumbled, piling up firewood.

"Forget it guys; he's never going to change his mind." Pacha sighed as Sora lit the wood with a fire spell. "We should sleep in shifts, in case any of those monsters attack. I'll take the first one."

"I'll stay up with you too, Pacha." West said. "I'm really not that tired anyway." Riku raised an eyebrow at her, thinking she had other reasons for staying up.

"You know what, I'll stay up too." Riku suggested. The rest of the group nodded in agreement, the remaining four getting ready to sleep. Goofy collapsed on the ground and instantly started snoring, Mickey yawned and curled up on a patch of grass and Sora and Kairi inched towards the fire, Kairi shivering in her short sleeveless dress.

"Cold?" Sora asked, Kairi nodded looking up at him. In response, Sora pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around Kairi's slender shoulders. "I know it's not much, but I hope it keeps you warm." Sora had no time to react as Kairi kissed his cheek and snuggled up against his chest, pulling his jacket tighter around her shoulders.

"Thank you." Was all the princess of heart said before yawning and falling fast asleep in Sora's arms. It took Sora a moment to register what had just happened before smiling down at the beautiful angel curled up against him. The keyblade master brushed aside Kairi's bangs before lightly kissing her forehead and lying down on the ground, brushing Kairi's auburn hair with his fingers.

_I'll protect you, I promise, _Was the last thing Sora thought before he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Riku, meanwhile had just made it beside West who was staring at the fire.

"Something on your mind?" Riku asked. West shook her head.

"Nothing, I'm just not tired." She yawned.

"It's your night terrors, isn't it?" West stared at him, not expecting him to remember, but sighed in defeat.

"They've been getting worse ever since our fight with Ansem." she explained. "I wake up with a sore throat because of all the screaming. They just feel so real."

"You shouldn't be afraid of sleeping." Riku said, placing a hand on your shoulders. "You need to sleep. They weren't so bad when you knew you had someone to protect you, right? I'll be here all night, I promise."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" West asked.

"What good is a thief when they're sleep-deprived?" Riku shrugged, pulling her head down to his leg for a pillow. With one last yawn, West was fast asleep. Within seconds she was already crying and groaning in her sleep. Riku looked down at her sadly and soothingly rubbed her back. West seemed to relax as her tears stopped and her mumbling lessened. Riku continued the comforting action, looking up at the worlds shining brightly above them.

Pacha was trending to the fire, smiling at the two couples and thinking back to his wife. However, his thoughts were soon interrupted by the sound of Kuzco's teeth chattering. He was freezing, being so far away from the fire. Pacha sighed and pulled off his poncho revealing a simple white shirt and brown sash. The village leader creeped over to Kuzco and placed the poncho over him like a blanket as the chattering stopped and turned back towards the fire. What Pacha didn't notice was Kuzco waking up and seeing the small act of kindness the villager had done for him. Without saying anything, Kuzco lied back down and went back to sleep.

Meanwhile, not too far from where the group had set up camp, Lea, Max and Donald were wandering through the jungle. Donald had his staff lit up with a fire spell and Lea held a small flame in the palm of his hand, both being used as light sources.

"Wow. Pacha was right; this jungle is scary." Max murmured.

"Relax. We should catch up with wherever they made camp in no time." Lea retorted.

"A phooey! You're just a bunch of scaredy cats!" Donald said. "I'm not scared of some stupid jungle!" But, when Lea had unexpectedly poked him in the back, Donald screamed at the top of his lungs, dropped his staff causing the flames to extinguish and jumped into Max's arms.

"You were saying, mister high and mighty duck?" Lea laughed. At that moment, Mickey had emerged from the bushes, rubbing sand from his eyes.

"I heard Donald scream, what happened?" The king yawned.

"Just a duck who can't take a little joke." Lea smirked, Donald crossing his arms and muttering insults under his breath.

"Sorry we woke you up, your majesty." Max apologized, setting Donald to the ground.

"Don't worry about it, Max. It was my turn to watch for the heartless anyway." Mickey smiled, leading them towards the campsite. "We all ought to get some shut eye." Before Mickey knew it, all three them had collapsed to the ground and fallen fast asleep.

~*KHIII*~

The next morning, Pacha awoke to the sound of birds chirping, bats flying back to their caves, the sun rising and the world-travellers slowly waking up as well. The villager yawned, stretched and made his way over to a nearby pond. Pacha knelt down, cupping the cool water in his hands and splashing it over his face.

"Uh, hey." A voice spoke from behind him. Pacha turned to fid Kuzco walking over to him with his poncho in his mouth. The llama sat down beside him, dropped the poncho into his hoof and handed it back to its owner. "Thanks."

"Oh. No problem." Pacha replied, picking up his poncho.

"Feels like wool."

"Yeah."

"Alpaca?"

"Oh, yeah, it is."

"Oh, yeah, I thought so. It's nice."

"My wife made it."

"Oh, she knits?"

"Crochets."

"Crochets? Nice."

"Thanks." There was an awkward moment of silence, before Kuzco spoke up again.

"So... so, I was thinking that when I got back to the city, we'd, uh...I mean, there's lots of hilltops, and maybe I might, you know...I - I might..." The emperor stammered nervously.

"Are you saying... you've changed your mind?" Pacha asked, not quite believing it.

"Oh, well, I - I..."

"Because you know that means you're doing something nice for someone else."

"No, I know that. I know."

"And you're okay with that?" Sora asked from behind them. Both world natives turned around to find the entire group of world-travellers standing there, shocked at what Kuzco had to say.

"Yes." Kuzco replied. Pacha, in response glared at Kuzco and leaned in close to him. "What?" Pacha held out his hand. Kuzco held out his hoof, before Pacha pulled back.

"Don't shake unless you mean it." The world-travellers eagerly awaited Kuzco's response, until they shook hands. Pacha's glare was instantly replaced by a smile

"All right. Let's get you back to the palace, Kuzco." Mickey smiled, everyone walking out of the jungle.

"Oh, by the way, thanks." Pacha told Kuzco, pulling his poncho back over his head.

"No... Thank you." Kuzco said, a small, barely noticeable smirk appearing on his face.

**PrismRain13: enjoy the little fluff moments? I know I did!**

**Kuzco: Read and review to get more of me!**

**SCRLCcs8kingdom; Ven is going to show up, but unfortunately him and the rest if the BBS trio won't make physical appearances until all the Disney worlds are done. Naminé, Roxas and Xion will appear when we go back to Twilight Town. I might have them show up in dreams or flashbacks earlier on, but not confirming that.**

**Alyssa A; thanks! Always glad to live up to expectations :)**

**DarknessMaster23; the wait is over, but now you have to wait for yet another chappie :( I will keep it up! Thanks for the support!**

**(1): Kairi's limit; _Floral Light_**


	32. Trust And Forgiveness

**Pacha: hi everyone! We're back with Reconnected's new chapter.**

**PrismRain13: I'm so glad I got to work on this! Diploma exams suck! I need a break! **

**Pacha: Just don't hurt yourself. Prism still owns nothing other than the plot and her OC's. Everything else belongs to Disney and/or Square Enix.**

**_Chapter 31: Trust and Forgiveness_**

With Pacha's help, the group had made it safely out of the jungle, only running into small packs of heartless. Pacha and Sora were at the lead with Kuzco and rest of the world-travelers scattered behind him. Still, in the few hours after Kuzco's sudden change of heart, Sora couldn't help but feel Kuzco wasn't being completely honest with them.

"Hey, Pacha?" Sora asked, the village leader turning to face him. "Is it just me, or do you find Kuzco's behavior a little suspicious?" Pacha only shook his head.

"Of course not, Sora. I've always told myself that nobody's that heartless. Kuzco just needed some time to realize what he was doing was wrong." Pacha replied, then turned to address the rest of the team. "Okay everyone. Once we cross this bridge, it's only an hour to the palace." The group walked over the hill and down to old wooden bridge over a large canyon leading to another group of hills supporting a giant golden palace.

"Nice place, Kuzco." Lea said, admiring the palace from their distance.

"I'm just glad we're getting you home." Kairi stated, patting his shoulder.

"Good, because believe it or not, I think I need a bath." Kuzco grumbled, smelling his fur and pulling back in disgust.

"I believe it." Pacha released a small laugh.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Pacha took one step on the rotting bridge and a board snapped under his feat, causing him to tumble through the hole and be caught in the vines under the bridge.

"Pacha!" Sora exclaimed as he and his team rushed to his aid. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. For now." The villager replied.

"Don't worry, Pacha. We'll get you back up!" Mickey stated as he and Riku(who was one of the strongest people there) reached down for Pacha to grab their hands. The rest of the team did anything else they could to help, Sora, Kairi and Donald were trying to make their magnet spells work even with most of their magic drained from last night's battle, West and Max were tying together some vines to make a rope, and Lea was holding Goofy over the edge, so he might be able to reach him. However, Pacha proved to be too far down for any of their methods to work. The only one who hadn't done anything and was showing no concern was Kuzco.

"Kuzco!" Goofy a called out to him as soon as Lea put him back on the ground.

"Yeah?" The emperor asked in a somewhat lazy tone.

"Quick, help us get Pacha out!" Goofy stated. All Kuzco did was push himself between the group and jump over the hole in the bridge.

"No, I don't think I will."

"You're going to leave me here?" Pacha asked, the entire group staring at him in shock.

"Well, I was going to have you imprisoned for life, but I kind of like this better." Kuzco smirked over his shoulder.

"I thought you were a changed man." Pacha growled.

"Oh, come on, I had to say something to get you to take me back to the city."

"So all of it was a lie?" West snarled, glaring daggers at the llama.

"Well, yeah. No, wait." Kuzco paused for a moment, thinking until he smirked. "Oh yeah, yeah, it was all a lie. Toodles." And with that, he turned his back on the group and began walking down the bridge again.

"WE SHOOK HANDS ON IT!" Pacha yelled furiously after the emperor who turned back again.

"You know the funny thing about shaking hands?" Kuzco asked. "You need hands!" He laughed, holding up his hooves for emphasis. "Okay now, bye-bye!" But, before Kuzco could turn back towards the city, the earth began to rumble and shake. Suddenly becoming terrified, Kuzco jumped off the bridge and into Lea's arms, shaking. Lea snarled at the llama before dropping him.

"Not another bridge battle!" Donald grumbled. At that moment, the ground in front of them split as a giant heartless climbed out. It looked to be some kind of lizard-like heartless with two heads with snake-like necks colored dark purple with electric blue flames on the legs and torso. The heartless symbol was printed on both heads. It had two tails that were thin and quick as whips with horns on their heads and fangs that had to be at least thirty centimeters long. One head was foaming at the mouth with bubbling purple poison and the other head was releasing a foggy stone-cold breath. This heartless was known as the Petri-Poison.

"Now that's an ugly heartless!" Max exclaimed, pulling out his skateboard. Sora followed his lead by raising Kingdom Key and turning towards Lea, Goofy, Kairi and Riku.

"Get Pacha out of there! We'll deal with it!" the keyblade master stated as he, Max, West, Mickey, Donald and Kuzco stood in front of the Petri-Poison. The two heads both hissed at them in response and Kuzco released a girly shriek and jumped into West's arms. The theif stumbled backwards from the sudden act, they both fell to the ground.

Donald instantly jumped into the battle, waving his staff and attacking the heartless with fire, blizzard and thunder, only the fire spell seemed to cause damage. The heads noticed Max and West rushing towards them and both spat their respective elements. The fog washed over Max, turning him to stone and the poison hit West causing her to become poisoned cough violently. Weakly, West pulled out two more antidotes and used them to lift the petrification and poison on both her and Max who jumped back into battle at the first chance.

Kuzco ran around the heartless, cowering behind the rest of the team and different rocks and trees. The Perti-Poison hissed at Kuzco and raised its claw to swipe before Kuzco kicked the claws back, causing it to stumble backwards and hit a tree, dealing a great deal of damage. Sora and Mickey soon found themselves backed near the edge of the cliff, a far distance from the bridge. The two heads snapped at them as the two keybearers tried to block with their keyblades.

"If you have any ideas, your majesty, I'm open!" Sora exclaimed, just barely ducking out of the way of a petrification blast. At his words, an idea suddenly came to Mickey. The mouse king quickly jumped out of the way just as one of the heads snapped at him. Mickey reached into his pocket and pulled out the Dragon Charm he found in the Land of the Dragons and raised it into the air.

"Jake Long!" Mickey called as the charm began to glow a fiery red. The glow began to intensify as a boy appeared in front of Mickey. He was young, around twelve, had spiky black hair with a green streak and was dressed in a red and yellow jacket, denim shorts and sneakers. Jake nodded once toward Mickey before glaring at the heartless and raised his fists.

"Dragon up!" Jake exclaimed before he became engulfed in flames as many flame-coated Chinese characters floated around him. Once the flames died down, standing in Jake's place was a muscular red dragon with a mane that resembled Jake's spiky hair. "Yo! Let's finish this!" The dragon said in Jake's voice.

Mickey nodded before jumping on to Jake's back as they both flew into the air. Jake and Mickey flew around the heartless, who snapped and spat at them but missed. Jake responded by firing his fire breath in short blasts at all angles as he and Mickey flew around. As an attempt to finish off the battle Jake flew in front of the heartless, until a ball of fire began to grow in his mouth. Once it had reached its maximum, Jake spat it at the heartless, causing the ball of fire to split in two and hit the ground, causing a fiery explosion engulfing the heartless.

With his work done, Jake and Mickey flew down to the ground. Mickey jumped off his back as Jake turned back into his human form

"Thanks Jake!" Mickey said as he and Jake fist-pumped.

"Give the Am-drag a call anytime, yo!" Jake smiled before disappearing in a burst of flames. That last blast was enough to finish off the Petri-Poison, the heartless began to fade into darkness just as its captive heart flew freely into the sky. The team sighed in relief just as Riku pulled Pacha back on to solid ground. Once they were sure they were safe, the entire group turned to glare at Kuzco, who laughed nervously.

At that moment, the ground directly beneath Pacha began to crumble away as the man stumbled and tripped. Thinking quickly, Kuzco rushed towards him, grabbed Pacha by the poncho and pulled him away from the edge just as the fallen pieces of earth tumbled into the caverns.

"Whoo-hoo! Yeah! Oh, look at me and my bad self. I snatched you right out of the air. 'Oooh, I'm a crumbly canyon wall and I'm taking you with me.' Well, not today, pal. Uh-huh. Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh. Uh-huh." Kuzco sang while the group stared at him in both shock and astonishment for what had just happened.

"You just saved my life..." Pacha gasped, not quite believing it himself.

"Huh?" Kuzco asked, before realizing what he had done. Then his expression turned back to his previous smugness. "So?"

"I knew it!" Pacha smiled.

"Knew what?" Kuzco demanded.

"That there is some good in you after all."

"Oh, no!"

"Admit it!"

"Wrong."

"Yes, there is."

"Nuh-uh!"

"I think there is."

"No way!"

"Hey, you could've let me fall." Pacha shrugged.

"Come on, what's the big deal? Nobody's that heartless!" Kuzco snapped before he realized what he said. "Don't read too much into it. It was a one-time thing." Pacha only nodded and smiled.

"Right. Sure. Well, we better get going. With that bridge out, it's going to be a long walk to the palace." The villager said as he began walking back up the hill. Surprised by his statement, Kuzco ran up beside Pacha.

"What? You mean you're still taking me back?" The llama asked

"I shook on it, didn't I?"

"Well, yeah, but I hope you realize that doesn't change a thing. I'm still building Kuzcotopia when I get back."

"Well, this could be a long time. Who knows? Maybe you'll change your mind." Max said with a shrug.

"Wait, you guys are still coming?" Kuzco asked before the team of world travelers nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, we still have to do our job." Donald stated.

"And who knows, If you do have a change of heart, I definitely want to be around to see that!" Kairi smiled, and the group followed Pacha up the hill and down a dirt path leading away from the jungle.

"Uh-huh." Kuzco shrugged. "What are the chances of anyone carrying me?"

"Not good." Lea grumbled.

~*KHIII*~

After a few hours of walking, the group had grown to be becoming very tired. After the first hour, Kuzco had given up on walking and demanded that Riku carry him. A few arguments later and the influence of West's cute face, Riku had complied but wasn't happy about it.

"Getting a workout there, Riku?" West asked playfully.

"Not funny." Riku grumbled to her. "Why did you take his side?" He asked, indicating the llama lounging in his arms.

"I just wanted to see if my cute face still worked." the thief smirked.

"Well, at least we know what Riku's weakness is now." Sora laughed, Kairi giggling next to him.

"Oh, you're hilarious, Sora." Riku rolled his eyes. At that moment, a diner appeared in the distance.

"We should probably stop." Mickey said, noticing the diner. "Anyone else hungry?" Almost instantly the entire team nodded.

"Mmm... Mudka's." Kuzco sighed. "I could go for some food, even an Emperor's gotta eat."

"Well, as soon as we get something to eat, you're walking the rest of the way." Pacha said sternly to Kuzco, Riku releasing a sigh of relief. Once they made it to the diner's door they were stopped in their tracks at noticing the "No Llamas" sign.

"What?! No llamas allowed?!" Kuzco demanded, jumping out of Riku's arms. "What do you people have against llamas?!"

"They're smelly, wild, ugly and in this case, rude." Donald stated earning him a glare from Kuzco.

"I'm just wondering what they'll say about a duck, two dogs and a rat walking in!" Kuzco retorted.

"Kuzco, I'm a mouse!" Mickey stated.

"At least we have clothes to make us look normal!" Max growled.

"We'll, I guess we could always buy our food and take it to go." Pacha suggested. "But I was looking forward to resting for a bit." The rest of the team was stumped, except for Kairi who seemed to be forming a plan in her mind.

"I have an idea." The princess smirked.

In ten minutes flat, they were welcomed into Mudka's diner. Kuzco was cleverly disguised as a woman using Pacha's poncho and hat, some flowers they just picked, dirt being used as makeup and the fur around Kuzco's head was permed. Donald, Goofy, Max and Mickey had some eyebrows raised at them, but passed as humans because of their clothes. They were now sitting in a booth near one of the windows, Pacha having just ordered everyone the special.

"Wow, Kairi. This was a great idea!" Sora exclaimed.

"Glad you think so." Kairi smirked.

"Can't believe these people don't notice Kuzco's really a llama. Are they really that dense?" Lea rolled his eyes.

"Gawrsh, no one freaked out about me and Donald on our last adventures." Goofy said. "I wonder why."

At that moment, the waitress came back with eleven orders of what looked like giant roasted bugs. Most of the group stared at it in disgust, except for Pacha, who dug right in to the bug's guts, acting like it was the greatest meal in the world.

Sora and Donald both looked like they were about to throw up, Kairi and Max pushed their plates away, trying not to look at it. West poked at the bug with her knife almost expecting it to move, Riku and Lea just stared. Goofy was gulping down his water trying to keep himself occupied. But Mickey picked up his fork, scooped up the bug's guts and held it close to his mouth.

"Uhh... Are you sure you wanna eat that, your majesty?" Max asked.

"We're in a new world, we might as well embrace their taste in food." Mickey shrugged before groaning at the yellowy slimy contents then forcing his fork into his mouth. The group stared at him as Mickey turned an odd shade of green and looked just about ready to pass out or vomit. "It's... An interesting... Flavor... Very sour... And tart." Mickey stammered, gulping down his water to get the bad taste out. Kuzco took one last look a his bug, before sliding out of the booth.

"Where are you going?" Pacha asked, his mouth contentedly full.

"I'm just going to slip into the kitchen and have a word with the chef." Kuzco replied.

"You're gonna get us thrown out." Riku warned.

"And that's a _bad_ thing?" West asked.

"Please. With this disguise, I'm invisible." Kuzco said, moving down to his four hooves and strode through the kitchen doors. At that moment an old, wrinkly, skinny scary-looking woman and a muscular black-haired man strode into the diner and sat down at the booth behind the team of world-travelers and Pacha.

"We've been walking around in circles for who knows how long. That is the last time we take directions from a squirrel!" The woman complained "I should have done away with Kuzco myself when I had the chance!" At the last statement, Pacha nearly choked on his bug and the rest of the team gasped in shock.

"That's who turned Kuzco into a llama?!" Sora asked in a whisper so the two villains couldn't hear him. Lea turned to look at the old woman, his expression turning to one of disgust.

"Dang it! That has to be the ugliest woman I've ever seen!" The ex-nobody stated.

"Oh, you really gotta stop beating yourself up about that." The man said before the woman shot him a deth glare and bent her fork. The team decided that now was as good a time as any to get out of there. Pacha, Sora and Riku slid out of the booth and darted into the kitchen where Kuzco went. The rest of the group made their way out through the front door.

Inside the kitchen, Kuzco was talking to a grumpy-looking chef. Sora tapped Kuzco on the shoulder and the llama turned to face him with a confused expression on his face.

"Sorry, Kuzco. Meal time's over!" Sora said. And with that, Pacha scooped Kuzco up in his arms as the group of four climbed out the kitchen window.

"Wait! I haven't asked him about dessert yet!" Kuzco protested, struggling against Pacha's hold as they made their way back outside to meet with the rest of the team. "What are you doing?!"

"Kuzco, listen; there's two people in there looking for you." Riku told him.

"What?"

"A big guy and a skinny old woman." Kairi described.

"Wait. Was this woman scary beyond all reason?" The entire group nodded, remembering the scary and scary face of the old woman. "That's Yzma and Kronk! I'm saved!" the llama exclaimed excitedly, whipping the dirt make-up and permed fur from his face.

"Trust me, they're not here to save you!" Warned Pacha.

"They'll take me back to the palace. Thanks for your help. You've been great. I can take it from here..." Kuzco said, trying to walk away while Mickey stood in front of him.

"You don't understand! They're trying to kill you!" The king told him

"Kill me? Their whole world revolves around me!" Kuzco laughed.

"No! I can't let you!" Pacha exclaimed, grabbing the llama and pulling him back.

"What? Wha - oh, I get it! You don't want to take me back to the palace. You want to keep me stranded out here forever! This has all been an act, and I almost fell for it!"

"Will you just listen to me-" Pacha gritted through his teeth.

"No, no, you listen to me. All you people care about is that stupid hilltop!"

"What?"

"You don't care about me! Now, just get out of here! All of you! Go!"

"But-"

"Go on! Get outta here!" Kuzco snapped.

"Fine!" Pacha huffed, Kuzco turning away from the group and walking around the diner. The world travelers watched him storm off before Goofy placed a comforting hand on Pacha's shoulder. At that moment, Yzma and Kronk came walking down the steps of the diner, Kuzco watching them from the bushed with a smile on his face.

"This entire mess is your fault!" Yzma growled.

"What'd I do?" Kronk asked.

"If you hadn't mixed up those poisons, Kuzco would be dead now!" At Yzma's statement Kuzco's face instantly fell. "There'll be no more diversions until we track that llama down and kill him!"

"Said I was sorry. Can't we just let it go?"

"Kuzco must be eliminated! The empire will finally be rid of that useless slug."

"You've got a point. Nobody really seems to care that he's gone, do they?" Kuzco watched them walk off from his position in the bushes, his mouth open in shock, as though he couldn't believe what he had just heard. Quickly, he rushed back to where he had last seen Pacha and the world-travelers.

"Pacha! Sora! Riku! Goofy! Lea! Anyone?!" the emperor called out desperately. Finally, he spotted them, walking down another dirt path, but turned around as soon as they heard Kuzco calling out to them. "Hey, listen, guys, you know, what I said to you back there, that - that - I - I didn't really..." Before the llama could go on, Pacha held up his hand for Kuzco to stop talking and offered him a smile of forgiveness.

"So, you tired of being a llama?" Pacha asked.

"Ye-ee-ee-es!" Kuzco sobbed and sniffled.

**PrismRain13: okay, so this world's gonna be pretty much wrapped up soon.**

**Pacha: Darn.**

**PrismRain13: Do we have to go through this every time I finish up a world? Read and review! Thank you guys so much for your continued support! You're the best!**

**Guest - I know, that was one of my favorite Disney movies as a kid! Kuzco and Kronk crack me up every time :)**

**(1): Jake Long's limit: _Dragonfire_**


	33. Potions Mistress

**PrismRain13: so, I forgot to mention last chapter, Jake's from the Disney TV series _American Dragon: Jake Long._**

**Kronk: did you really need to mention that? It's kind obvious isn't it?**

**PrismRain13: yeah, but I still wanted to mention it.**

**Kronk: prism still claims no ownership other than the plot and her OCs. Now have a spinach puff and enjoy the chapter!**

**_Chapter 32: Potions Mistress_**

Right after returning Pacha's poncho and hat to him, Kuzco and the rest of the team were running back through the jungle towards the broken bridge, serving as their fastest way back to the palace. However, Kuzco and Pacha still remained confused as to how they were going to cross.

"So, let me get this straight." Kuzco asked, running next to Mickey. "Your guy's keyswords are going to make us magically fly over that canyon?!"

"They're called Keyblades, Kuzco. And yes, our armor and gliders will last long enough for us to cross the canyon." Mickey replied, continuing to run.

"Finally! I was wondering when we'd get around to using them!" Riku exclaimed

"Wow. Someone's enthusiastic!" West remarked, holding back a giggle.

"Hey! I didn't get to use it yet; I have a right." Riku retorted while West rolled her eyes. At that moment, the group skidded to a stop as they reached the canyon with the bridge dangling over the edge. Sora, Riku, Kairi and Mickey stepped forward, their keyblades appearing in their hands.

The four keybearers raised their blades and soon became engulfed in the blinding white light the team had seen back on the Wilds of America. The light faded quickly and the four keybearers were standing in their armor once again. Kuzco and Pacha who hadn't seen the armor before looked on in admiration.

"Woah! That looks so cool! Can you set me up with an outfit like that?" Kuzco beamed. Meanwhile, Goofy looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening at what he saw; Yzma and Kronk running down towards them out of the jungle and down the hill. They were still a fair distance away, but they were quickly gaining on them.

"Hey fellas! I think we ought-a get out of here!" Goofy stated as the group realized the quickly-approaching villains. Wasting no time, Mickey, Riku, Sora and Kairi threw their keyblades into the air. There was another brief flash in the sky and their keyblade gliders flew down in front of them as their riders jumped on.

Pacha climbed on to Mickey's glider, West wrapped her arms around Riku's waist with Max holding on behind her, Donald and Goofy rode behind Kairi on her flowery glider and Kuzco and Lea balanced themselves with Sora.

Within seconds they blasted off the edge at an intense speed. The canyon barely noticeable underneath them. Max turned his head to look back and gasped at The sight of Kronk's back-carrier containing Yzma sprout wings as they glided over the canyon.

"Guys? We got company!" Max said nervously. The sensitive group all looked behind them, but no one had any idea how to fight back without loosing a passenger. Until Donald spoke up.

"I've got it!" The duck exclaimed from his position on Kairi's glider. His staff appeared in his hand just as he raised it in the air, turning around and aiming for Yzma and Kronk. "Thundaga!" Donald commanded. A split second later, multiple giant bolts of lightning hit the villains, causing them to be comically burned black. A second later Yzma and Kronk fell down into the canyon below.

"Nice move Donald!" Mickey congratulated just as all four gliders landed on the other end of the canyon. Upon landing, their armor disappeared and their keyblades returned to normal. The team of eleven nodded towards each other before running back on coarse towards the palace.

~*KHIII*~

The palace wasn't guarded, much to the team's surprise. However, they had no time to discuss it as Kuzco galloped happily into the palace with an enormous smile on his face. He didn't stop until he reached the throne room; a giant space with red and gold drapery, red carpet and golden decorations with a large pillar with a long staircase reaching up almost as high as the room itself with another red carpet on the pillar with a gold throne sitting on it.

No one could stop Kuzco as he sprinted up the steps of the pillar and hugged the throne as though it were a long-lost friend.

"Oh throney! I missed you so much!" Kuzco exclaimed. "Did Yzma hurt you with her wrinkly dinosaur butt? Don't worry throney Kuzco's back!" Soon the group had caught up with Kuzco, panting for breath in the throne room. Kairi looked up to where Kuzco was hugging his throne and rolled her eyes.

"Kuzco! You can catch up with your throne later! Which way was Yzma's lab?" Kairi called up to the llama. Listening to her voice seemed to snap Kuzco out of his trance as he sadly pried himself away from his throne and moved back down the stairs.

"Okay. It's underground, this way!" Kuzco replied, leading the group down another hallway. This one seemed darker than the others as they trekked farther and farther under the palace, slaying the few heartless that attacked them. Soon they arrived in a large dark, misty room with discarded smashed stone heads of Kuzco littering the floor next to a giant hammer. Over on the far wall sat a rhino's head statue with the two horns sitting out.

"Wow." West stated, inspecting the stone litter. "Yzma must have really hated you."

"Can't imagine why." Lea grumbled sarcastically.

"I know right!" Kuzco exclaimed, oblivious to the sarcasm. "Anyway, I remember her pulling one of those levers, then she disappeared into the wall." Kuzco pointed to the rhino's head statue on the wall as the entire team ran towards it. Immediately, Donald ran in front of the statue, Kuzco and Max standing beside him.

"Pull the lever Goofy!" The Mage demanded, pointing at the two levers.

"Uhhh which lever?" Goofy asked examining the two.

"I don't know dad, just pick one." Max grumbled, rolling his eyes. Goofy finally shrugged and pulled the lever closest to him. But, instead of entering the lab, a trapped door opened under their feet and Kuzco, Donald and Max fell screaming.

"Wrong lever, Goof." Lea stated while Goofy frowned. At that moment, a sliding door opened and Kuzco, Donald and Max stepped out, soacked in murky water and an alligator was biting Kuzco's tail.

"Okay, why does she even have that lever?" Kuzco grumbled, kicking the alligator with his back hoof as it yelped and scampered back into the chamber. The three stood in front of the levers again as Pacha stepped forward and pulled the other lever. As soon as it was pulled, the floor pushed them up into an invisible door.

"Looks like we found our lab." Mickey stated. "Let's get going." He, West, Riku and Lea stepped forward to follow the previous group. Mickey reached up and pulled the same lever down and within a blink of an eye they were gone too.

Goofy nervously stepped forward while Sora and Kairi followed him. He gulped and extended his hand to grasp the lever and pulled it down. In a split second the wall and floor had flipped them right into the invisible entrance and into a dark purple roller coaster seat. The bar snapped down on their laps before anyone had a chance to react.

"Please remain seated and keep your arms and legs in at all times." A robotic voice rang through the room just as the cart dipped over the edge of the coaster. Sora, Kairi and Goofy screamed as they went through the violent downwards twists and turns. The coaster came to a sudden stop at the end and the three were forced flying out of their seats.

Sora managed to land on his feet, but Goofy landed on his stomach and glided across the floor. Kairi's screaming could be heard, Sora looked up and saw her flying directly towards him. Quickly, the Keyblade Master held out his arms and Kairi landed in them, but they both tumbled to the floor. The two teenagers pushed themselves up and Kairi pecked Sora on the cheek. Causing Sora to stop in his tracks and blush.

"Thanks." Kairi blushed. "Guess I gotta work on my landing."

"Hey!" Donald called from the potions lab, where the rest of the team was looking around. "You lovebirds coming to help or what?!" Both Sora and Kairi nodded, jumped up to their feet and ran towards the lab.

"What does it look like?" Sora asked Kuzco, while he picked up stray potion bottles and inspected them.

"I don't know. Just keep looking!" Kuzco replied. Meanwhile, Pacha found a metal cabinet shaped like an owl, opened it revealing labeled potions on a number of shelves.

"Over here!" Pacha called the team over. "It has to be one of these. Lions, tigers, bears..." He stopped when the group realized that the potion labeled humans was gone.

"Oh, my." A voice echoed through the space. "Looking for this?" And out of the shadows stepped the terrifying form of Yzma holding the human's potion.

"No! It can't be!" Kuzco gasped

"How did you get back here before us?" Riku demanded. Yzma was about to retort, before she stopped, realizing that she had no idea.

"Uh...how did we, Kronk?" She asked Kronk, who was standing there with the fried carrier on his back.

"Well, you got me." He shrugged, from out of nowhere pulling down a map that showed both Yzma and the group's routes, including them falling into the river after Donald's lightning strike. "By all accounts, it doesn't make sense." Yzma merely shrugged and turned back to the group.

"Oh, well, back to business."

"Okay, I admit it. Maybe I wasn't as nice as I should have been." Kuzco laughed nervously. "But, Yzma, you really want to kill me?" Yzma grinned evilly at the llama, feeling the satisfaction.

"Just think of it as you're being let go, that your life's going in a different direction, that your body's part of a permanent outplacement." Kuzco gulped at her words, even Pacha and the team of world-travelers seemed nervous.

"Hey, that's kind of like what he said to you when you got fired." Kronk remarked, shrugging the carrier off his shoulders.

"I know. It's called a cruel irony - like my dependence on you." Yzma grumbled.

"Woah! Wait, back up!" Lea exclaimed. "You want to kill Kuzco because he fired you?! Lady, you've got some serious unemployment issues!"

"Well, I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree." Yzma smirked, pulling a jagged knife from behind her back and turned towards Kronk, throwing the knife into his hands.  
>"Finish them off!" Yzma ordered, with her hands on her hips and a smug expression on her face. Kronk, however, seemed to be at war with himself. He looked down at the knife, then at Kuzco, Pacha and the people he never met, but still felt wrong about hurting them.<p>

"Hey, you're not backing down now, are you, big guy?" A voice rang through Kronk's head just as a tiny version of himself dressed like a devil popped up on his shoulder.

"Uh, where's the other guy?" Kronk asked the Shoulder Devil, pointing to his other shoulder. At that moment, another mini version of himself dressed like an angel popped up on his other shoulder.

"Sorry I'm late. So, what'd I miss?" The Shoulder Angel asked.

"Well, Yzma just tossed me this knife and asked me to, you know, take them out." Kronk explained. However, everyone else just stared at Kronk. No one else could see the Shoulder Angel or Shoulder Devil, so it looked like Kronk was talking to himself.

"Is he always like this?" Max asked Kuzco. The llama only shrugged.

"I always knew he was weird, but this is just insane." Kuzco replied.

"Then this guy popped up and we waited for you, and quite honestly -" Kronk continued.

"Kronk!" Yzma snapped, finally having enough. "Why did I think you could do this? This one simple thing. It's like I'm talking to a monkey."

"Whoa now." The Shoulder Angel said.

"A really, really big, stupid monkey named Kronk!"

"Ouch." The Shoulder Devil remarked.

"And do you want to know something else? I've never liked your spinach puffs" All three versions of Kronk gasped at that statement as though it was the worst possible thing Yzma could have ever said. "Never!"

Kronk's eyes quickly started to water as he began to sob and cry, the Shoulder Angel patted his cheek trying to comfort him. But, the Shoulder Devil had another idea. "That's it. She's going down." He growled, pointing his pitchfork at Yzma.

"Now, now, remember, guys." The Shoulder Angel said. "From above, the wicked shall receive their just reward." All three of them looked up from where the snarling form of Yzma stood, to find a sharp, metal, heavy-looking chandelier.

"That'll work." All three stated at the same time as Kronk cut the rope holding the chandelier up in one clean swipe. The chandelier fell down to the ground with a violent crash, as everyone turned away. But, when they all looked back, they found Yzma hadn't been harmed at all. She'd been skinny enough for the round center of the chandelier to pass harmlessly around her.

"Strange. That usually works." Kronk remarked.

"And so does this!" Yzma snapped, pulling a bottle-shaped lever allowing a trapped door to open underneath Kronk's feet.

"Ah. Should have seen that com- Whoa!" Exclaimed Kronk as he, and his Shoulder Angel and Devil fell down the trapped door screaming. Yzma was still watching Kronk fall that she almost didn't notice West sneak up behind her and grap the human potion. A second later Yzma realized her hand was empty and grabbed West's wrist trying to get it back.

"Give me that vial!" Yzma demanded, neither her or West giving up their grip. The old woman didn't notice Donald raising his staff, until it hit her in the back with a blizzard spell causing her to fall to the floor and for West to grab the potion and run out of the way.

Max rode his skateboard around the space, just as West tossed the vial to him. Then, he spotted Pacha who was open to catch it.

"Pacha! Go long!" Max called throwing the vial over to Pacha who caught it easily. Until Yzma pushed herself up from the floor and held out her foot causing him to trip. Pacha skidded on the floor, but still didn't let go of the vial. Until Yzma body slammed him and caught the vial.

Then, Mickey raised his keyblade, hitting Yzma with a light spell and knocking her off Pacha and the vial to fall out of her hands. The old woman collided with the potion cabinet, causing some vials to clatter to the floor. Yzma made her way back up to her feet and snapped her fingers, creating a barrier around herself, Sora, Kuzco, Riku, Kairi, Goofy and Max.

On the outside of the barrier, Pacha, Mickey, Donald, Lea and West soon became surrounded by different breeds of heartless such as powerwilds, soldiers, wizards and the native wild pouncers. The group only shrugged, pulled out their weapons and ran into battle.

Yzma smirked at the six she had trapped, showing off a handful of colourful potions she had snagged. The team of six simply raised their weapons and hooves in response, ready to fight. Yzma ran to attack Kuzco first, throwing her potions at him. Kuzco was quick to dodge most of them before one hit him directly in the chest, exploding upon impact. Kuzco coughed and strutted, his health depleting at a rapid pace. The potion had caused him to be poisoned.

Kairi acted quickly, running to Kuzco's aid and healing him with a cure spell. And Max pulled out another antidote and relieved Kuzco of the poison. Riku ran straight towards Yzma with his keyblade raised. Yzma just barely managed to duck out of the way before Sora slammed his keyblade into her back and Lea to throw blasts of fire at her.

The old woman stumbled, but still remained standing. Yzma glared at her opponents before jumping up on the potion table and pulling a variety of levers that caused pink-colored smoke to rain down on them. Luckily, Sora cast a reflect spell on the group before the smoke could do any damage. As soon as the smoke was gone, Kairi jumped up on the table with Yzma and attacked her with fast, deep slashes from her keyblade.

Yzma was so distracted by Kairi that she didn't notice Goofy's shield flying towards her until it was too late. The shield hit her right in the gut, causing her to fall off the table. Yzma snarled and pushed herself back up and ran back into battle. She had a limited amount of potions left so she resorted to punching and kicking Sora and Riku, who were just barely dodging as Yzma was attacked from behind by Max, who was kicked to the side then healed by Kairi.

Kuzco glared at Yzma, angry at the woman who wanted him dead and now was attacking his new friends. He toed the ground with his hooves, and stretched out his neck.

"You threw off my groove!" Kuzco exclaimed, kicking up his back hooves and charging towards Yzma. He head-butted her in the ribs causing Yzma to release a gasp of pain. Kuzco waved his head around as he kept colliding with her, dealing more damage. When he stopped he quickly turned around and kicked her with his back hooves, strong enough to send her colliding into another potion cabinet. "Boom bam baby!" Kuzco smiled, holding up his front hooves in victory.(1)

Yzma groaned from her weakened position but didn't notice as one of the potions fell down from the cabinet and poured onto her in puff of pink smoke. When the smoke died down after a few seconds, standing in Yzma's place was a tiny lavender-furred kitten with the human potion laying next to it. At that moment the barrier disappeared.

"I'll take that!" Kuzco smirked, grabbing the vial with his hoof.

"Way to go Kuzco!" Kairi cheered. "I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Yeah. Neither did I." Kuzco laughed.

"This is the one! This'll turn you back into a human!" Pacha exclaimed. But, before Kuzco could open the vial Yzma the kitten sprang to life, scratching and biting him. Kuzco shook himself around, trying to get the Yzma-cat off of him before Max ran up to him carrying his skateboard and hit Yzma on the head with his skateboard, causing the cat to dizzily fall off Kuzco and hit the floor in a comedic fashion. Then, Lea ran up with an empty purple vase and slammed it on top of the cat, containing it.

"See? This is why I'm not a cat person." Lea said.

"You and me both, dude." Max said. At that moment, the vase began to shake and Yzma exploded out of the vase, grabbed the potion and sprinted up a flight of stairs.

"Looking for this?" Yzma asked in a squeaky voice. "Once I turn back into my beautiful self you'll all pay!" The cat released a high-pitched evil laugh before climbing out of the open door at the top of the stairs.

"Come on!" Riku exclaimed. "We can't lat her get away!" The group nodded in agreement before running up the stairs and through the door leading to the outside of the palace. Yzma was having a hard time trying to open the vial. But, she snapped her head up when she heard them coming and jumped up on a high ledge, smirking down at them

"I win!" Yzma smirked. When suddenly a door right next to her slammed open and pressed her right against the hard, golden wall causing the vial to fall out of her paws and land right in Pacha's hands. Everyone looked up to find Kronk step out of the door completely unharmed.

"Woah. What are the odds of that trapped door leading me out here?" Kronk asked with a smile. Before anyone knew it, the group burst into laughter and a giant group hug. After a few seconds, the hug ended and Kuzco awkwardly rubbed his arm.

Pacha uncorked the vial and handed it to Kuzco, who smiled gratefully, before drinking the potion in one gulp. Then, a puff of pink smoke appeared, surrounding Kuzco. When the smoke faded, standing in Kuzco's place was a thin young man in his twenties with straight black hair reaching down to his shoulders, round, turquoise earrings, short red and gold robes, sandals and a big golden crown on his head.

"Boy. Does it feel great to be back!" The man said in Kuzco's voice.

"So this is what you look like." Sora realized. "This is the real Kuzco."

"Yep. Handsome, rich, powerful and on top of the world! It doesn't get any better than this!" Kuzco replied, looking out over his kingdom. Out of the corner of his eye, Kuzco saw Pacha gazing down at his feet and looking a little sad. Kuzco puffed out his cheeks, then turned towards him. "So, you lied to me."

"I did?" Pacha asked with a confused expression.

"Yeah. You said when the sun hits the ridge just right those hills sing. Well, pal, I was dragged all over those hills, and I did not hear any singing." Kuzco stated with his arms crossed. Sora and his friends smiled, realizing what Kuzco was doing. "So...I'll be building my summer home on a more magical hill. Looks like you and your family are stuck up on that tuneless hilltop forever, pal."

Pacha responded with a warm smile and pulled Kuzco into a warm hug. But instead of demanding Pacha to let go like he would have before, Kuzco hugged him back.

"Wow." Riku breathed. "Kuzco, I never knew it was possible for anyone to change like you did. You proved me wrong."

"Meh. I do what I can." Kuzco shrugged when the hug was over. "You know, now that I think about it, I'm gonna need a new advisor. Anybody up for the job?"

"Sorry, Kuzco." Mickey said. "But I'm afraid we're going to have to pass. A lot more places still need our help!" Kuzco nodded his head in understanding just as Kronk jumped down carrying an unconscious Yzma-kitten in a cat-carrier.

"Well, I guess I'm going to have to find a new job now." Kronk sighed. "Oh well, can't have a boss who doesn't love my spinach puffs."

"You know what, Kronk. You're a good guy. You'll do okay." West said.

"If you're looking for a job and you like cooking you could always try that diner." Max pointed out. "They really need a new chef."

"Finally! Somewhere where my love of cooking will be appreciated!" Kronk exclaimed excitedly, running all the way to the diner. Suddenly, the entire palace began to glow as Mickey's keyblade appeared in his hand. The light around the palace grew and grew until a beam of light shot out of the roof and into the sky, forming the shape of a keyhole. Mickey pointed Star Seeker at the keyhole as a beam of light shot out from the tip and into the keyhole.

"Whelp, looks like its time for us to go." Mickey said as he dismissed his keyblade.

"You're leaving already?" Pacha asked as the team of world-travelers nodded sadly. "Well, now I'll have loads of stories to tell my kids about you all."

"Geez Pacha, you're embarrassing us!" Lea laughed.

"Thanks guys." Kuzco said with a wave. "Don't go forgetting about your favorite emperor now!"

"Don't worry; we won't!" Goofy smiled.

"Remember to be good, Kuzco!" Donald waved. Soon, the team had all made their way down the dirt path and all faded into nine beams of light, teleporting back on to the Gummi ship.

_Heh. Good kids_. Kuzco thought as he and Pacha watched them leave. _They'll do okay._ His thoughts were soon interrupted by Pacha tapping his shoulder and Kuzco turned to face him.

"You know, I'm pretty sure I heard some singing on the hill next to us. In case you're interested."

**PrismRain13: Here's a hint for the next world; it's been in every KH game so far except for one.**

**Kronk: don't forget to review!**

**Guest; see? See? I updated!**


	34. The Coliseum Games

**PrismRain13: Awesome job to everyone who guessed the next world was Olympus Coliseum! It's been in every game except Dream Drop Distance.**

**Hercules: I get that my world's kinda been overused, but hey! You gotta have somewhere to train!**

**PrismRain13: my point exactly! And I forgot to mention last chapter(I really gotta stop doing this); Kuzco's limit is called _Llama Groove._**

**Hercules: Kingdom Hearts, Disney and Final Fantasy all belong to there respective owners. Prism is making no money off this and probably never will**

**_Chapter 33: The Coliseum Games_**

Dark, damp and cold as death. This was the typical feeling anyone felt when they crossed into Olympus Coliseum's Underworld. But, to The Lord of the Dead himself, it was home sweet home. A corridor of darkness appeared in the middle of the throne room and the tall blue-skinned form of Hades stepped out, breathing in the smell of death.

"Oh yeah. Home dead home." Hades breathed in the familiar smells, then looked towards the corridor as Myde stepped out. He had abandoned his old organization coat for ripped skinny jeans, a black belt with blue suspenders loosely hanging down, black high tops, a white sleeveless shirt with an inky music notes printed near the hem, black and blue headphones connected to a blue iPod around his neck and a sleeveless denim jacket.

"Oh great." Myde grumbled. "Why'd you have to make me come back here. I still get nightmares about your freaky three-headed dog!"

"Because I didn't want Pete screwing up my plans like he did every single time for Maleficent! In fact, now that I think about it I should have taken the mini-Riku." Hades grumbled, sitting at his throne while Myde jumped up to sit on to the round table.

"You mean Hope?" Myde asked. "Why'd Maleficent recruit him anyway? What's so special about that kid?"

"No idea. She wouldn't tell me. And here I thought we had something special." Hades rolled his eyes.

"Okay... I didn't need to know that." Myde squirmed. "So what is your plan anyway?"

"First we wait for the fates to get here. They'll tell us all the info we need, yada yada. Then we go from there." Hades replied. "PAIN! PANIC! GET IN HERE!" At that moment, two small monsters; one purple and one blue came running in and saluted Hades.

"Pain and Panic reporting for duty!" The blue one, Panic said.

"Have the fates arrived yet?" Demanded Hades. At that moment, the two minions noticed Myde sitting casually on the table.

"Uhh boss, isn't that the guy who -" Pain started to say.

"Yeah yeah it's me. Can we move on now?" Myde demanded irritably, crossing his arms. Pain and Panic looked at each other and shrugged before they shrugged and turned back to their master.

"The fates have arrived." Panic announced.

"Well, what are you waiting for; send them in!" Hades demanded. A split second later three figures strode into the room. They were all wrinkly old hags with sharp teeth and claws, all garbed in long black cloaks. They all had empty eye sockets but only the shortest had one. The tallest was thin with blue skin and a long, pointed nose. The next tallest was thin as well but had green skin, a pointed chin and wild strands of yellow worm-like hair peeking out. The one with only one eye socket was short and stout with a round head and green serpent-like hair. In the shortest one's hand was a slimy eyeball.

"Ladies; welcome back!" Hades exclaimed, smiling and standing up from his throne. "I was wondering if-"

"We could help you take care of the keybearers?" The blue one, Lachesis interrupted.

"How'd you know he-" Myde asked.

"Was going to say that?" The green one, Clotho interrupted with a giggle.

"We're fates! We know everything!" Lachesis said as she grabbed the eyeball and put it in one of her eye sockets. "The past." Clotho then slapped her sister on the back, causing the eyeball to fall out and put it into one of her own eye sockets.

"Present." She said just as the purple one, Atropos pulled the eye out of the socket and into her own.

"And future." Atropos finished. Myde crossed his arms and glared at the three fates.

"Oh yeah; prove it!" Myde demanded.

"You lived on a world called Splash Mountain." Lachesis replied, grabbing the eye back from Atropos. "When it fell to darkness you almost drowned in the lake then your heart was taken by a Sea Neon heartless. Pathetic if you ask me!" There was an eerie silence throughout the Underworld as everyone stared at Myde.

"Okay... That was sort of private." Myde cringed uncomfortably. Hades rolled his eyes then turned back to the fates.

"Anyway; see Maleficent told me the team of wannabe-heroes is coming this way. But see, I already got this plan to take care of Jerkules and the snobs up on Olympus. So are these kids gonna mess up my plans or what?" Clotho was about to speak up before Lachesis stepped up, glaring at Hades.

"Oh no you don't! The last time we revealed the future to you ended terribly!" The tallest fate scowled. Hades grumbled in defeat before an idea filled his mind.

"Hey! You don't know! No big deal; fine don't tell me!" Hades smirked.

"Of course we know!" Atropos protested. "We'll show you all!"

"Duh! How could I have doubted such lovely ladies." Hades replied while Myde looked like he was about to throw up. Clotho and Atropos blushed furiously. Lachesis grumbled in annoyance, but still held out the eye in the palm of her hand as the eye began to glow and fly up into the air.

~*KHIII*~

**_Olympus Colliseum_**

Meanwhile, above on the ground level Sora and his team had just arrived, he, Donald and Goofy beamed at the familiar sight of the completely rebuilt coliseum. Looking brighter and more alive than ever.

"Well at least we hit our mark this time." Sora smiled, remembering the last time they came to this world they had ended up in the Underworld.

"Yeah. The Underworld wasn't a fun place!" Donald agreed.

"Tell me about it." West said, crossing her arms. The group looked at her and Riku in surprise.

"Gawrsh, you guys came here too?" Goofy asked.

"Hades brought us here to 'train' us." Riku admitted. "Let's just say that Centaurs are tougher than they look."

"Hey! At least you didn't have to fight Sephiroth; that guy was tough!" Sora retorted. At that moment there was the sound of a pained cry followed by the uproar of applause and cheers.

"Sounds like the games are on!" Donald pointed out, leading the group of nine towards the coliseum doors. "We should compete again, Sora!"

"Yeah! We gotta now that we're true heroes!" Goofy agreed, followed by enthusiastic cheers from Donald and Sora. But at that moment Lea stepped in front of the trio.

"Uhh hate to remind you but aren't we on a mission?" The former nobody asked.

"Even if we are, a few training tips from Phil wouldn't hurt." Mickey stated.

"Right!" Max agreed turning to Goofy. "You said he's the best trainer of heroes around, dad!" Goofy nodded and ruffled his son's hair.

"We should still talk to them; even if we don't train." Riku said. "Hades has been one of Maleficent's most trusted allies for years. We should at least warn them." The group nodded in agreement, Riku pushing open the heavy coliseum doors as they strode inside.

Upon entering, the group couldn't help but gasp in amazement; the colliseum's lobby had been completely redone. It was much bigger for one with a lounging area complete with stone tables, brown couches, gold tapestries and a bar. One wall was stacked full of various trofies hidden behind a glass wall. Scattered around the room were various pillars supporting decorative vases with different heroes painted on them.

One vase in particular caught Kairi's attention. The princess of heart gently picked it up and looked it over, her eyes widening when she recognized who was on it.

"Sora!" She called, motioning them over. "You, Donald and Goofy are on here!" The team gathered around and sure enough, painted on the vase was the trio; mimicking their pose from the constellation Zeus had created last year.

"Wow. This is so cool!" West beamed.

"Yeah. Took us long enough to be true heroes." Donald grumbled. At that moment, the cheering was heard again from a door at the far end of the room reading "Colliseum Entrance" in Greek.

"Come on!" Sora exclaimed. "Sound's like Herc's got a big crowd." His team nodded and followed him through the door and into the open, sunlit area of the Coliseum's viewing was crowded with people in togas and supporting signs that read "Go Hercules" and other similar sayings.

In the arena, Sora wasn't surprised to see Hercules himself up against a Hades's three-headed dog, Cerberus and winning by a long shot. As usual, he was garbed in his traditional bronze fighting gear complete with blue cape, sandals and the gold symbol of the gods on his belt. The teenager scanned the crowd for anyone he knew which wasn't hard; in the front row seat were three familiar figures.

The first was a tall, beautiful, slender young woman with thick, curled auburn hair tied back in a ponytail. She was wearing a lavender dress that showed off her curves nicely. She seemed to be one of Hercules's biggest supporters as she was on the edge of her seat the entire time. The one next to her was a pure white horse with a blue mane and tail and giant white feathery wings coming out of his back. He was clapping his fore hooves together excitedly. The last was a short, fat satyr standing on a box and holding a microphone in his hand.

"Meg! Pegasus! Phil!" Sora called and waved excitedly. The three heads turned around at once and all beamed with excitement as Meg motioned for the group of nine to join them.

"Long time no see!" Meg exclaimed, Phil putting down his microphone and Pegasus head-butting Donald and Goofy. "What do you think of what we've done with the place?"

"It looks amazing!" Kairi stated, sitting next to her as Sora moved to introduce her, and the rest of their team to the Coliseum's natives. Phil's ears instantly perked up at the mention of Riku and West.

"Hey, you entered the games two years ago, right?" Phil asked, Riku and West both nodded. "What was that tournament called again... The Titan cup?"

"That's the one." Riku confirmed. "Gave me bruises for a week!"

"How come we never got to enter that one?" Goofy asked. "Then we could have met up with Riku and West."

"Trust me; I wanted to enter you." Phil replied, watching the tournament in front of them. "But they snagged the last spot. Two words when it comes to the games; Limited number of space!"

"Wait a second, that's more than three-" Mickey started to say.

"Just leave it, your majesty." Donald said. At that moment, Cerberus fell to the ground in a hung thump from Hercules's final blow. The crowd around them burst into applause and cheers and in a standing ovation. Hercules bowed and waved to his fans.

"That's my champ!" Phil shouted into the microphone. "What strength! What skill! No wonder he's our greatest hero!" The cheering continued just as a magical barrier around the arena disappeared, allowing Hercules into the bleachers to greet his fans.

"Where'd the barrier come from?" Lea asked.

"The head man Zues himself installed it last year after we finished rebuilding. Thought it was a good idea if the audience didn't participate in the games too." Meg explained. At that moment, Hercules began walking towards them, his eyes widening in surprise at the sight of the nine newcomers.

"Sora! Donald! Goofy!" Hercules exclaimed. "When'd you guys get here?"

"Just now." Sora replied, fist pumping Hercules. "Nice match, Herc."

"Are you remembering to rest?" Donald asked. "We don't want a repeat of last year!"

"Don't worry about Wonder boy." Meg laughed, standing up from her seat and hugging him. "I'm making sure of it."

"Yeah." Hercules nodded. "I even got a friend helping me out with some of the matches."

"Really? Who?" Goofy asked. Little did he know that his question would soon be answered as Phil picked up the microphone again.

"Now for our last match of the day! From the depths of the Underworld; this fearsome creature destroyed the Colliseum before!" The crowd released very clear "boos". "Please welcome the bloodthirsty hydra!" The gate opened and before anyone had any time to react, the familiar light purple hydra slithered out, hissing at the crowd.

"And it's mighty opponent; you may know him as a former servant of Hades. But now free of The Lord of the Dead's control and is now a trusted ally among us, please welcome back the fearsome Cloud Strife!"

"CLOUD?!" Sora, Donald and Goofy all exclaimed at once, their mouths open in complete shock. Sure enough, the blond, spiky-haired warrior emerged from the opposite gate. He looked the same as he had a year ago when they saw him back in Radiant Garden; the same black, buckled outfit with the wolf-like symbol on his shoulder, his hair styled in the same spiked fashion and the heavy, bandaged Buster Sword was strapped to his back.

The hydra hissed at him but Cloud simply glared and huffed in response, pulling the Buster Sword from behind his back and standing in a battle-ready stance. The hydra moved to snap at him, but Cloud simply dodged out of the way using a combo of rapid sword strokes. The hydra growled at him and snapped towards him, barring its teeth dangerously. Cloud responded by ducking out of the way again and using more slashes from his sword but the hydra kept snarling at him. Wanting to get the fight over with, Cloud used a three-hit sword combo and then jumped up into the air and falling back down with Buster Sword pointed at the hydra's heart. The hydra released a strained cry before falling down, defeated.

The crowd bursted into applause once again and Cloud placed his sword back on his back and made his way to the bleachers where Hercules and the rest of the team were. His eyes widened at the sight of Sora and the rest of the world-travellers.

"Sora?" Cloud asked in astonishment. Just as the crowd was clearing out as the games were done for the day.

"Long time no see, Cloud!" Sora smiled. "So this is where you ended up after your fight with Sephiroth!" Cloud scowled as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah. He must have opened some kind of portal to separate us; I haven't seen any sign of him since I got here. I found myself in the Underworld, but I left before I could have another run-in with Hades." The ex-soldier replied.

"He walked right into the Coliseum looking for a place to stay." Phil continued. "Sure I recognized him, but that didn't mean I was gonna let him get off easy."

"Phil made him go through a load of training exercises before even considering him a hero." Hercules continued, the group bursting into laughter, remembering how stubborn Phil could be. "Cloud's been a really good friend taking over some of my matches so we could both get some hero's rest. We've even helped each other train."

"Sounds like you've been busy, Strife." Lea added. At that moment, Cloud recognized the former nobody.

"Lea? What are you doing here?!" Cloud demanded. "I haven't seen you since we were kids and Radiant Garden was destroyed."

"Oh you know, the usual; helping out the good guys, kicking heartless tail." Shrugged Lea.

"Anyway," Hercules said. "What brings you guys here? Off on another quest?" Mickey stepped forward, speaking for the group.

"Actually, there's something we need to discuss with everyone."

~*KHIII*~

Myde was still finding everything about the fates hard to believe; after when the eye was still floating and glowing above them. The fates had just finished their explanation of Hades's plan and the future.

"ALL RIGHT!" Hades beamed with excitement, his entire body in flames. "FINALLY! THEY WON'T KNOW WHAT HIT 'EM!"

"Yes. But once again there is a word of caution." Atropos stated calmly as Hades looked at her in confusion and the image of Hercules, Sora, Cloud and the rest of the team appeared in the eye; battle ready. "Should Hercules fight with an army by his side, you will fail."

The three fates all released high-pitched cackles before disappearing into the eye an then the eye disappearing in a brief flash. There was a silence once again for a moment, until Hades snarled and red, angry flames surrounded his body.

"WHHHHHAAAAAT?!" The Lord of the Dead roared causing Myde, Pain and Panic to flinch and cringe in fear. It didn't last long, as Hades calmed himself down. "Okay, okay I'm fine. I'm cool."

"So what are ya gonna do, boss?" Pain asked.

"Simple." Hades smirked, turning to Myde. "That's where you come in my water-elemental friend. We just have to separate the goody-too shoes. One group will be felt with if say, another match in the games were to take place..."

"Woah! Dude!" Myde exclaimed, holding up his hands in defence. "I don't do combat! I'm a recon guy!"

"That's not what I'm talking about!" Hades retorted. "You'll provide a little distraction elsewhere to separate the group more. We'll leave the games to a client of mine." At that moment, the silhouette of a warrior-like figure strode into the doorway of Hades's throne room. What was barely visible in the shadows was slightly spiked hair, holding a menacing-looking blade and a cape flowing behind them.

**PrismRain13: so that's Olympus Coliseum's first chapter! A bit longer than I usually do for world intros but that's okay!**

**Hercules: Don't get too comfortable, Hades! You're going down!**

**PrismRain13: you're getting a little carried away Herc. *sigh* review and see if you can guess the mystery person!**

** Jared Reese; thanks for the positivity! yep! You guessed right! And yes, that world is coming! I promise!**


	35. Of Thieves And L'cie

**PrismRain13: So, I know I haven't updated my stories in awhile...**

**Cloud: but school's a little more important.**

**PrismRain13: yeah... Senior year, homework, extra stuff and being a Hufflepuff with a mad crush on a Slytherin takes a lot out of you! *crickets chirping* okay, but still guys I promise I'm not abandoning ANY of my stories, I just need time to figure stuff out. So with the way on with the story!**

_**Chapter 34: Of Thieves And L'cie**_

As soon as the Coliseum was closed, Hercules led the group of world-travelers, Cloud and the rest of the world's natives back to the lobby's lounging area. They were spread out around the couches, bar and a few were sitting on the floor. In a short amount of time everyone was filled in on Maleficent, the heartless and the organization members returning as somebodies. Meg stepped behind the bar, picked up a tray of drinks and passed them around the group and then sat next to Hercules, wrapping her arm lovingly around his shoulders. Pegasus was contently curled up on a giant pillow, munching on a bowlful of birdseed.

"So, we think Hades might have joined forces with Maleficent again." Riku finished explaining. "They were close allies before and he was one of the few she really trusted."

"I could see him going for this again." Hercules said. "Especially if it was a chance to get rid of me. But we haven't had any problems with the guy since we beat him and threw him in the river of death last year."

"Really?" Sora asked. "Nothing?"

"He's been really quiet." Meg spoke up. "He has the power to get out himself, but what I don't get is why he's been waiting this long."

"He might be waiting for an opening." Suggested Mickey. "From what Donald and Goofy told me, Hades has had a ton of failures in his plans to get rid of you. If he's serious this time he'll do everything in his power to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"So what do we do?" Donald asked.

"We're going to have to wait for Hades to make the first move." Cloud spoke up from his position against the wall. "He likes to play with our minds and ramble about his plans. We won't know anything until he shows himself."

At that moment, the lobby shook violently, followed by the sound of a collapsing pillar.

"Sounds like we won't have to wait long." Lea grumbled, chugging the last of his drink and his chackrams appearing in his hands.

"Heartless in the Coliseum; has to be Hades!" Hercules agreed, standing up and pounding his fists together. The rest of the team raised their weapons and followed Hercules and Sora into the Coliseum's arena. Leaving Meg, Phil and Pegasus inside. Sure enough, it was swarming with heartless. The breeds included Soldiers, Air Soldiers, Trick Ghosts, Hook Bats and Rabid Dogs.

Sora drew his keyblade and jumped fearlessly into battle, slicing through the Soldiers and locking into combat with an Air Soldier using as many magic attacks he could against it. Kairi stayed close, following his lead and fired a blast of light at a Rabid dog that was about to take Sora, reducing it to a freed heart. Hercules was effortlessly smashing his way through the army of heartless coming his way, none of them stood a chance. While Cloud pulled out the Buster Sword and sliced through the Soldiers.

Lea and Max soon found themselves standing back-to-back, surrounded by an army of Trick Ghosts. They both nodded to each other and raised their respective weapons as they both jumped on Max's skateboard. He steared the board around the circle, while Lea pulled up his chackrams and released a beam of fire at the Heartless.

Donald was having a hard time fending off a group of Hook Bats with his magic, which was quickly running low. He knew if he didn't refuel soon, he'd be defenseless. When suddenly, Riku and West jumped in and attacked the Hook Bats with their respective attacks until there were none surrounding them anymore. West quickly pulled out an ether and tossed it to Donald, restoring his magic. The three nodded towards each other before running back into battle.

Goofy threw his sheild at a group of Air Soldiers, knocking them backwards and dealing a great deal of damage. The Heartless flew backwards, allowing Mickey to jump up and finish them off with a clean swipe from his keyblade. By that time, the Colliseum had been cleared of all the Heartless, allowing the group to lower their weapons and breath a sigh of relief.

"Well, well, looks like I'm going to have to step up my game." A familiar voice echoed throughout the Coliseum as everyone brought up their guard again. "You just have to give me a hard time, don't ya?"

"Hades! We know it's you! Come out!" Sora called into the space. A split second later, a puff of black smoke appeared right next to him and from the smoke emerged The Lord of the Dead himself.

"Oh, you're good kid." Smirked Hades, then he noticed Riku and West glaring at him with their weapons in their hands. "So, Riku, I see you and freckles are still together. Didn't get bored of her uselessness yet?"

"I'm not useless!" West exclaimed.

"We're just friends!" Exclaimed Riku at the same time.

"Uh-hunh yeah sure. Whatever you say, lovebirds." Hades waved them off then turned back to Sora, Cloud and Hercules. "So, Cloud I see you've joined the heroes."

"Better than working for you." Scoffed the ex-soldier.

"What do you want, Hades?" Kairi demanded.

"World domination, Hercules dead, a date with Maleficent, but for now I'll settle for another Coliseum match."

"... Okay that's disgusting." Riku quivered.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you Hades, but there aren't anymore matches today; we're already closed." Hercules said, crossing his arms.

"Oh, I don't know about that, Jerkules." Smirked Hades. "Have you checked the schedule recently?" With a snap of his fingers, a clipboard appeared in a puff of black smoke as Hades waved it in front of Hercules, Cloud and Sora's faces. "Looks like you, the spiky key-brat and the stiff are up against a mysterious challenger."

"A challenger you hired!" Donald accused in anger.

"Details, details. So, you really wanna ditch this match? Who knows what kind of 'accidents' might happen to the audience and your precious Colliseum."

"What audience?" Lea asked with a raised eyebrow. At that moment, Phil came running into the arena in a panic.

"We got a problem! There's a huge mob outside the Colliseum! They keep going on about some new match!" The satyr explained as everyone's eyes turned to Hades, who was whistling innocently.

"What did you do, Hades?!" Hercules demanded.

"Is it a crime to promote an event?" The Lord Of The Dead asked with a smirk. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat but I've really gotta run. Be sure to give the crowd a good show!" Laughing madly, Hades became engulfed by the black puffs of smoke.

"WAIT!" Donald exclaimed, raising his wand. He rushed towards the retreating form of Hades and jumped towards him. Unfortunately, Hades disappeared a second later, causing Donald to land flat on his stomach on the stone ground of the arena. "I hate it when this happens!" The duck grumbled, pushing himself back to his feet.

"Gawrsh, what do you think we should do, Herc?" Goofy asked. Hercules crossed his arms and sighed in defeat.

"It looks like Hades didn't give us much of a choice. The audiences we get are crazy about the games; the last thing we need is a mob on our hands, people get hurt. At least if we fight whoever Hades sent against us we'll be able to keep everyone safe." Hercules grumbled.

"Then, that's what we'll do!" Sora exclaimed. "With the three of us fighting, we'll take care of whoever Hades hired in no time!"

"Still, if Hades is involved, he probably has something else planned." Cloud pointed out.

"He's right, Herc." Phil stated. "This might be something we might want your tell your dad about."

"Yeah." Hercules mumbled in thought. When suddenly, an idea came to him. He put his fingers up to his mouth and whistled, summoning Pegasus. The flying horse flew right into the arena and landed right beside his master. "Pegasus, I need you to take some of Sora's team up to Olympus to see my father. I know mortals aren't supposed to go, but this is one of those times we'll have to make an exception." Pegasus nodded his head and snorted in understanding.

"I'll go with Kairi and Max." Mickey volunteered. "I've met Zeus before; he'll listen to me."

"Okay... so you met Pocahontas's tree grandma and Hercules's god dad. Remind me again how you know these people, your majesty." Max asked.

"Being king, you get around." Mickey replied. Hercules nodded his approval as Mickey and Max climbed on the winged horse. Kairi paused before rushing towards Sora, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"Promise me you'll be careful." She whispered, Sora returned the hug.

"Don't worry; I've been through worse. I'll see you soon." He replied. Kairi smiled, nodded and kissed his cheek before climbing on Pegasus behind Max and Mickey and flying off into the sky.

"Great. So what do we do while you're off fighting in the games and they're off lounging on Olympus?" Lea grumbled.

"Me and Goofy fought in the Colliseum before; we can jump in and help if things get out of hand!" Donald suggested, Goofy nodding in agreement.

"Riku, could you, West and Lea investigate the Underworld while we're fighting? See if Hades left any clues of his plan behind." Sora turned to his friend.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Riku said with a determined look in his eyes, Lea pounded his fists together and West slumped in defeat.

"Come on, really? The Underword creeps me out!" The thief grumbled while Lea ruffled her hair.

"Relax, pigtails. You're with us, remember." The former nobody said. West merely huffed, blowing her bangs out of other face. Hercules nodded and pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to Riku who caught it. In the light, Sora recognized the golden Olympus Stone.

"The Underworld drains hero's strenth, it'll protect you." The hero explained. Riku nodded and expressed his thanks and darted into the underworld followed by Lea and an unhappy West. "Well Phil, looks like we're ready." Hercules announced. "When's the match?"

"In five minutes."

~*KHIII*~

Not long after leaving the Colliseum, Pegasus landed in front of the giant, golden gates of Mount Olympus. Kairi, Mickey and Max all jumped off Hercules's steed and strode towards the gates.

"So, how does this work? Do we knock? Is there a doorbell?" Max asked. When suddenly, there was a loud explosion and the gates exploded open by a thunderbolt being thrown.

"Or we could just walk in." Stated Kairi, she, Mickey and Max running through the gates. What they saw immediately froze them in place; dusk and dancer nobodies smashing into pillars and attacking glowing individuals with different kinds of weapons and magic who Kairi guessed were the gods.

One god in particular caught their attention; He was muscular, with white hair and beard, blue eyes, orange skin and a purple robe with one left strap with a gold medallion on it

"Zeus!" Mickey called rushing to the god's side, followed by Max and Kairi with their weapons raised. Just after Hercules's father slayed a dusk, he looked up and smiled at the sight of the mouse king.

"Mickey old friend! What brings you here?" He laughed just as the group soon became surrounded again by at least two dozen dancer nobodies.

"Can we explain while we fight?!" Kairi asked, jumping into battle. Max followed behind, jumping on his skateboard and running over the dancers.

"We're here because we think Hades might be in league with Maleficent again; he set your son, Sora and their friend Cloud up against some mystery opponent at the Colliseum!" Mickey quickly explained, firing a light spell at two oncoming nobodies and slicing through three more.

"Thought he'd be up to something as soon as these creatures attacked!" Zeus roared angrily, throwing his thunderbolt at a small clump of nobodies. "Our supply of Olympus stones have been stolen too when we found these creatures attacking us!"

"How many of those things do you have?" Max asked, having heard about the Olympus stone from his father. By that time they had defeated all their opponents and were allowed time to rest.

"One for each god who lives here." Zeus explained. "One stone only had enough power to shield one god from threats of darkness or the Underworld, whereas one can shield up to three mortals. That's why I left one with Hercules, considering Hades has had it in for him ever since he was born."

"Heck yeah he does!" A voice spoke from behind them. They all turned around to find Myde leaned up casually against a pillar with a brown bag swung obverse his shoulder and his hand in his pocket.

"You were with the Organization, weren't you?!" Mickey accused, recognizing him from Jiminy's reports.

"Was; now I'm with Hades and Maleficent. Just thought I'd take another shot at stealing the Olympus stone." Myde pulled the bag off his back and held it in the air to make his point. "I'd say I was pretty successful this time around, right?"

"You better give the Olympus stones back or-" Kairi started.

"Or what?" Myde challenged, reaching into the bag and pulling out one stone and holding it above his head.

"Really? _You_ want to fight us?" Max questioned. "I seem to remember my dad and Donald describing you as a wimp who hates fighting!"

"Hey, have you _seen_ Hades when you tell him you don't wanna fight?! It's scary! That dude has some serious anger issues!" The Olympus stone began to glow gold as the light surrounded Myde. Satisfied, he stashed the stone back in his bag and threw it behind him as his sitar appeared in his hands.

"Think you can take care of him?" Zeus asked. "I need to round up the rest of the gods."

"A wimp like him? No problem!" Max exclaimed, pulling out his scateboard as Kairi and Mickey both raised their keyblades. Zeus nodded his approval before rushing off on the other side of the mountain to get the rest of the gods.

"Dance water dance!" Myde exclaimed strumming chords on his sitar as water clones sprung to life around him. Mickey just barely ducked out of the way of an upcoming attack from one of the clones before attacking two more that we're coming up behind Kairi. The princess raised her keyblade and sent blasts of light magic towards the clones, but as they fell more kept coming. Max used his scateboard to slice right through the clones, using the fallen pillars to his advantage.

Kairi and Mickey ignored the clones, seeing that Max hand it covered and headed straight for Myde. The former nobody stopped strumming for a moment to just barely jump out of the way of an attack from both keyblade masters. Once he was out of range, Myde strummed a chord on his sitar, sending a giant wave of water towards the both of them. Mickey quickly jumped in front and cast a reflect spell around him and Kairi, protecting them from impact.

As soon as they were safe, Mickey released the spell, he and Kairi rushed to attack Myde with heavy strikes and fire and thunder magic. They were soon rejoined by Max, who had finished dealing with the clones. The three team members stood together and glared at Myde, who glared back before rushing back into battle.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, back at the Coliseum, Sora Hercules and Cloud were just about ready to start their match, standing off to the entrance of the arena. Donald and Goofy were sitting in the audience with their weapons in case they needed their help.

"Nervous, Sora?" Hercules asked, placing his hand on his shoulder. Sora smiled up at him.

"Really, Herc? After everything I've done you expect me to be nervous about one match?" Sora said cockily.

"Kid's tough, Herc. He knows what he's doing." Cloud stated, just as the sound of Phil's voice filled the arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to our REAL final match of the day! On our side; you know him as our greatest hero and the son of Zeus himself; please welcome HerculePhil the crowd erupted into cheers as Hercules strode into the arena, waving to his fans. "And his partners; we all know he's the silent type and a friend to our hero, let's give it up for Cloud Strife!" More cheers were heard and Cloud stepped out beside Hercules. "And last but not least; it's been a year since we've seen this young waupgrade, upgraded to true hero let's give it up for Sora!"

Sora took in a deep breath before walking out into the sunlight arena, facing the roaring crowd. The young man smiled at the sight of Donald and Goofy, who were both standing, cheering madly and held a "Go Sora!" sign in the air.

"And our challenger, sent to us from The Lord of the dead himself." Phil continued, the crowd bursting into boos. "Let's welcome the lovely miss Lightning Farron!"

"WHAT?!" Cloud exclaimed as soon as he heard the name. Just then, their opponent stepped in front of them. She was a tall woman with slightly spiked pink hair draped over one shoulder, a determined look in her blue eyes. Dressed in a white and brown uniform-like attire with a red cape flowing behind her, brown knee-high boots and a holster strapped behind her holding a menacing-looking weapon.

"Cloud? Cloud Strife?" Lightning asked, reaching into her holster and pulling out a sharp, dangerous-looking gunblade. "Been awhile."

"You know her?" Sora asked, Cloud nodded.

"She lived in Radiant Garden before it fell to darkness, and she was in the soldier program with me and Leon." Cloud quickly explained before turning back to his childhood friend.

Hercules stepped forward. "Look, Lightning. I don't know what kind of deal you made with Hades, but trust me, he's-"

"Stay out of it!" Lightning snapped, raising her gunblade and rushing towards the three heroes, swinging her gunblade at them. Sora just summoned his keyblade, blocking Lightning's weapon and pushing against each other. Hercules ran up behind Lightning with his fists raised, but she pulled away from Sora and fired a blast of thunder magic at him.

Cloud drew his buster sword and swiped at Lightning, who blocked his attack easily. Sora fired blizzard magic at her while she was distracted, knocking her backwards and allowing Cloud to get a decent hit in. Hercules rushed to help his friends and attacking Lightning. But, before Hercules could get another hit in, she back flipped out of the way and growled at her opponents.

"Lightning, give it up!" Cloud told her. "It's you against a soldier, a keyblade master and a hero with the strength of a god, you can't win!"

"I like my chances, Cloud; I'm not the same as I used to be!" Lightning retorted as she placed a hand on her heart as it began to glow pink and a pink crystal rose appeared in front of her. "Odin!" She exclaimed, slicing the crystal in half with her gunblade allowing a giant golden armoured figure holding two sharp curved swords to appear behind her. Cloud gasped in shock, the sight of the crystal and the giant meaning more for him.

"Lightning... How? You're a..."

"L'cie? Yeah I know!" Lightning roared, her and Odin ran back towards their opponents. Sora just barely blocking an attack from Lightning while Hercules and Cloud were left to fight Odin.

"Leave Sora alone!" Donald exclaimed from the stands, firing a blast of blizzard magic at her, knocking her back and giving Sora a chance to catch his breath. Donald and Goofy both ran into the arena and stood beside their friend with their weapons raised.

"Thanks guys." Sora said while Donald and Goofy and they all rushed back into battle. _Hope the others are having a better time than we are..._

**PrismRain13: Congrats to everyone who guessed Lightning from _Final Fantasy XIII_!**

**Cloud: read and review.**

**PrismRain13: You couldn't be a little more enthusiastic?! *Cloud remains silent* okay... Thanks for all the support guys! Next chapter we'll learn why Lightning's working for Hades and find out what Riku's team found in the Underworld!**


	36. Trouble In The Underworld

**PrismRain13: hey guys! It's Prism here and you'll never guess what I've got for you!**

**Hades: *bored* a new chapter.**

**PrismRain13: party pooper... So in case you guys don't know; I'm coming up to exam time, so my updates are going to be slower than usual. So don't hate me if I don't update for a ridiculously long time period.**

**Hades: Prism owns nothing, yada, yada, yada.**

**_Chapter 35: Trouble in the Underworld_**

Riku, West and Lea had no problems in finding the entrance to the Underworld. But, as for getting West down there, it was a bit more of a challenge. Both Riku and Lea had grabbed on to her arms and were literal trying to drag her down the stairs of the Underworld's entrance.

"No! Forget it! I'm not going down there! You can't make me!" West protested, resisting with all her strength against Lea and Riku's hold.

"Would you just relax already?!" Lea retorted. "We need to do this!" With one final tug all three of them comically tumbled down the steps, and finally landing in a tangled heap directly in the center of the Underworld's entrance.

"I really hate you guys right now, I hope you know that." West grumbled from underneath Lea.

"Yeah, but we all know that won't last long." Riku replied as the trio untangled themselves, winced from the small amount of pain and stood back up. Already they could feel the air around them weakening their combat strength. Looking around the Underworld, it didn't look that much different from when he saw it last. The floor and air were still stone cold the river was still filled with wayward souls and the Underdome was back to being locked up.

"I see Zeus still doesn't like the idea of death matches in the Underworld." West stated, moving to stand next to Riku, shaking a little due to her Underworld phobia.

"Wonder when he locked it back up after Sora left." Riku wondered. Sortly after they had all arrived back on the islands, Sora had told himself and Kairi everything he could about all the worlds he visited. Riku hadn't needed much explaining, considering what Sora had seen, he had seen a lot of himself.

"Uhh... Hate to break up your little moment, but don't we have a job to do?" Lea interrupted, stepping in between Riku and West. Both thief and Keyblade master lookedat each other and blushed when they realized how close they were standing together. Riku's arm had somehow managed to wrap around West's shoulders and West was leaning into his shoulder with her head nestled in the crook of his neck. They quickly separated and tried to hide their blushing faces but were hugely unsuccessful.

"Geez what's with you two?!" Lea exclaimed. "Seriously, get a room!"

"Lea, I swear if you don't shut up within the next five seconds I will kill you!" snarled Riku, summoning Way to Dawn in his hand. The look on West's face strongly suggested she wouldn't hesitate to do the same. Lea raised up his hands in defence and smiled innocently at both Riku and West, who both rolled their eyes at him.

"Can we please just use the stone, find whatever it is we're looking for and get out of here?! This place gets creepier by the minuite!" West exclaimed. Riku gave a nod of agreement before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out the golden Olympus Stone. He raised it above his head as the stone began to glow. The light from the stone surrounded himself, Lea and West as they all felt their strength return to them. It was like a giant weight was being lifted off their shoulders.

"Okay, if my memory's right, Hades's chamber should be right a the end of this hall. Let's get going." Riku explained, leading his group down a stone path with cold air. West shivered both due to her thin clothing and her fear of the scenery around her. Before the thief could stop herself, she clung on to Riku's arm. Lea couldn't help but snicker under his breath which earned him a glare from the young Keyblade master.

Surprisingly, they hadn't run into two many heartless. The few they did run into were dealt with easily. Fighting had gotten West's mind off her fear and she seemed to relax a little. Both Riku and Lea were having no problem in dealing with whatever heartless came their way.

In a short amount of time, they had found themselves at the entrance to Hades's chamber with the green river of death flowing underneath the tall canyon they were standing on. Riku stepped in front of the group and yanked open the door to the chamber and walked inside, followed by Lea and West.

It was the same as Riku remembered; a round table in the centre for battle planning, the tall, dark throne at the head of the room and an open wall leading right to the river of death.

There was one new addition to the room that caught Riku's eye. A blue, crystallized statue of a young woman with long hair tied in a side ponytail. As Riku squinted at the statue, he noticed faint tears down her cheeks. Lea's eyes widened as soon as the statue came into view and rushed in front of it.

"I know her... Serah Farron..." Lea realized. "Guys, I know who Hades hired-" But before Lea could finish, dark smoke-like chains wrapped around the three of them, binding them tightly around their wrists, arms, legs and torsos with an iron-like hold. Riku, Lea and West struggled against their bonds just as Hades appeared in front of them in a puff of smoke.

"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise." Hades smirked. "I wasn't expecting guests."

"Cut the crap, Hades!" West exclaimed, pulling at the bonds around her wrists. "You planned this, didn't you?!"

"Got that right, freckles." Replied Hades, turning to Riku. "Call it lucky that one of the key-swingers decided to tag along. So, let's cut to the chase; some buddies of mine got locked up by Zeus a couple years ago. You, Riku are going to help me bust some friends of mine out of the slammer with that key of yours."

"And why would I want to do that?" challenged Riku while Hades's smirk grew.

"Oh, I think you will." with a snap of his fingers West disappeared in a puff of dark smoke, then reappeared hovering over the river of death. The thief released a high-pitched shriek of fear once she noticed where she was and started struggling harder.

"Wait! You're just going to drop her? That's really low, man." Lea questioned fron his position on the ground, still struggling to get loose but making no progress.

"Call it payback for what spiky and Jerkules did to me last year. That's how it's going to be if Riku here doesn't cooperate." Hades replied, turning back towards Riku. "So what's it going to be kid? You going to help me out, or is freckles here going to be swimming with a new unlively crowd?"

"Riku no! Don't! You can't-" West started before she was cut off by more smoke draping over her mouth, silencing her. But the thief still released muffled screams and still kept struggling.

"Shut up!" Hades exclaimed.

"Hades, leave her alone." Riku spoke in a calm, yet dangerous tone.

"Really?! I'm just going to be ignored again?! What's with you people?! Why am I always the third wheel?!" Lea exclaimed from his position on the floor, showing little concern for his situation.

"I'm not ignoring you," Hades smirked. "You'll be joining freckles."

"...okay... That's not what I meant." Lea said awkwardly.

"You know, I still don't get why you keep her around." Hades stated, ignoring Lea. "She can't do any magic, she's clumsy, she can't even fight the easiest boss alone. In fact, if I got rid of her, I might even be helping your little team out. You can thank me later!" Hades raised his hand, about to let West fall, her eyes widening in fear. Riku felt his usual calm persona slipping away from him. He already failed West one, he couldn't loose her again. His breathing became heavier and heavier.

"STOP!" Riku exclaimed, just before Hades could snap his fingers and capturing everyone's attention. "I'll do it, I'll free them. Just don't hurt her!"

"Guess this proves my theory about your weakness." Hades smirked. He snapped his fingers again, causing West to disappear and then reappear next to Lea, breathing heavily into her smoke gag. Riku barely had time to sigh in relief before Hades grabbed his shoulder and started dragging him across the room. "Come on, kid. I haven't got all day!"

Riku gave one last look at the bound forms of West and Lea, before being shoved into a black bat-wing decorated carriage with a black winged horse at the front. Hades, Pain and Panic climbed in next to him and Hades grabbed the reins. They lifted off and flew out of Hades's Chamber at a tremendous speed through the Underworld, Riku's friends shrinking into the distance.

Finally they flew out of the Underworld and over a giant ocean. Riku remained quiet throughout the entire ride, giving up on struggling through the smoke chains holding him prisoner. He felt Hades placed a cold hand on his shoulder as Riku looked up at the god.

"Just like old times huh, kid?" Hades laughed. "Ya know, Maleficent told me that you still have a place with us. Just ditch the wannabe heroes and you'll be back in the loop."

Riku glared up a Hades for suggesting such a thing. "I'm not ditching my friends. I don't care what Maleficent offers me or what she has to say; I'm not letting the darkness take me again!"

"Whatever you say, it was just a suggestion." Hades smirked. "Guess the hostage situation is more your style. Man, you've changed."

At that moment, a beam of light rained down from the sky and into the ocean. As Riku looked up he noticed the beam was caused by five stars being perfectly aligned. The water below them was turning into a whirlpool until the bottom of the ocean was visible. Riku's eyes widened at what he saw; bars made out of lightning bolts, keeping four giant titans from escaping.

Hades snapped his fingers and the smoke chains binding Riku vanished. But, before the silver-haired boy could do anything, Hades grabbed his shoulder and whispered into his ear,

"Try anything funny and freckles and fire-boy will be the Underworld's newest residents." Hades threatened while Riku only gave a short nod before summoning Way to Dawn in his hands. Hades leaned over the edge of his carriage ad smiled a sharp toothy grin at the titans. "Brothers! Titans! Look at you in your squalid prison! Who put you down there?!" Hades demanded.

"ZEUS!" The Titans roared back. In a split second, Hades pulled Riku in front of him and pointed to the Titans, making his intentions clear. Riku gulped before pointing his Keyblade at the imprisoned Titans.

_I'm sorry_. Riku thought, before a beam of light shot out of the tip of Way to Dawn and hit the lock on the prison.

"And now that I set you free, what is the first thing you are going to do?!" Hades demanded with a cackle. He pulled Riku behind him now that his part was done and the smoke chains reappeared binding around his torso and wrists.

"DESTROY HIM!" The Titans replied with a roar, climbing one by one out of their prison and making their way towards Olympus.

"Good answer."

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, back on Olympus, Kairi, Mickey and Max were finishing up their battle with Myde. With Max and Mickey destroying his final water clones and Kairi delivering the final blow to Myde's chest with a strong blow from her Keyblade. Myde tumbled backwards, dropping the bag of Olympus stones and colliding into one of the pillars.

"We'll just take these back now." Max said, picking up the bag. Mickey stepped in front of Myde and pointed his Keyblade at his chest.

"Okay, Myde. You've got a lot of explaining to do!" Mickey exclaimed just as Zeus appeared next to him in a puff of white smoke, drawing a lightning bolt from behind his back.

"Such as, what's my brother, Hades planning?!" Snarled Zues. Myde gulped in fear as Zeus looked absolutely terrifying when he was angry, even Mickey looked scared of him. Still, Myde didn't answer, he just sat there staring at the god.

Zeus was about to speak again, before another one of the gods burst through the gates, capturing everyone's attention. He was considerably smaller and skinnier than the others with glowing sky blue skin and dark blue hair. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes and he was dressed in a white toga with golden sandals and helmet both with white wings attached to them and holding a gold staff.

Mickey recognized him as Hermes, the messenger god. And by the looks of things, he had bad news.

"Oh, we're in trouble! Oh, big trouble! I gotta-" Hermes muttered to himself before coming to a screeching halt in front of Zeus. "My Lord, the Titans have escaped! And they're practically at our gates!"

"What?! The Titans?!" Zeus exclaimed in shock. "Sound the alarm! Launch an immediate counterattack! Go! Go!"

"I'm gone!" Hermes nodded, flying off to warn the rest of the gods.

"Well, I guess that awnsers your question about Hades. Looks like my job's done." Myde said, pushing himself up to his feet. "I'm outta here; way too much fighting for my taste!" And before anyone had a chance to react, Myde disappeared through a corridor of darkness.

"So that's why he was stealing the Olympus stones and why Hades arranged that match!" Kairi realized. "To separate and distract us while he carried out his real plan!"

"But, how'd the Titans escape?" Mickey asked. "You locked them up."

"I did." Zeus replied. "I used my strongest bolts. The only things that could ever have unlocked it were my power and... a Keyblade."

"But there are only four Keyblades out there right now, and they're on our team." Max pointed out. "Kairi and the king are here, Sora's down in the Coliseum and Riku..."

"Hades must have forced him somehow; he'd never do anything like this willingly unless there was a good reason." Kairi quickly jumped in before anyone could say anything.

Zues only nodded once and whistled as Hermes came whizzing back in front of him. He took the bag of Olympus stones from Max, reached in, pulled out one of the stones and tossed it to Hermes.

"Hermes, I need you to go down to the Underworld and see what you can find; the rest of us will handle things up here."

"But-but- my Lord. The Underworld's dark... And scary... And..." Hermes stammered, shaking slightly.

"Hermes, some of our friends might be trapped down there!" Mickey argued. "We don't have time to argue!"

"Okay... I'm going..." Hermes gulped, flying out of Olympus and down to the Underworld.

"Okay then, looks like we've got some Titans to send back." Kairi said, drawing her Keyblade while Zeus picked up a handful of lightning bolts. "Who's up for this?!" Both Mickey and Max nodded on either side of her, ready to fight just as the four Titans burst through the gates. The battle for Olympus had begun.

~*KHIII*~

Back in the Underworld, West and Lea still lay in Hades's Chamber struggling against their bonds. West had been worried for Riku ever since Hades took him, but couldn't talk because she was still gagged. They had tried almost everything to escape from trying to cut the smoke chains with West's knife to Lea trying to burn them.

"We really need to get out of this." Lea stated. "Any other ideas?"

West shook her head, small tears drizzling down her cheeks. Lea sighed in defeat while West's eyes narrowed and she began to pull harder at her retrainsts. She winced and whimpered though her gag as the smoke chains painfully dug into her skin.

"Hey, easy. You're going to hurt yourself." Lea told her while West just glared at him, said something mumbed through her gag and struggled harder. This time, she released a small shriek as one of the chains cut her hand. "Look, I know you're worried about Riku. But you have to keep your head. Riku gave himself up to save you! If you end up slitting your wrist then he'll have freed Hades's buddies for nothing!"

West glanced down at the floor guiltily. Tears welled up in her eyes, but nodded her understanding. Suddenly, Hermes flew into the chamber, gasping at the sight of West and Lea.

"Oh my gods! Are you two okay?!" He demanded.

"Define 'okay'." Lea asked sarcastically.

"Right. Got it." Hermes stammered. He raised his staff and in a flash of golden light, the chains vanished from West and Lea's bodies. West wasted no time in jumping to her feet and pulling out her knife.

"What are we waiting for?!" West exclaimed. "We need to get Riku back!" She was just about to run out of the chamber when Lea grabbed her wrist and pulled her against him. Her movement was restricted as she squirmed against the ex-nobody. "Lea! Let me go! I need to help him!"

"And do what?!" Lea questioned. "We don't stand a chance with just the two of us against Hades AND whoever he made Riku free. We'll only be making it worse!" West calmed down and stopped struggling as Lea finally let go of her.

"Right now we need to get back up to the Coliseum, warn everybody and get up to Olympus." Hermes agreed. "I'll go back up there first and let the king the rest of your team know you're okay." Both West and Lea nodded as Hermes flew out of the Underworld, all the way back to Olympus.

"Do you think Riku will be okay?" West asked with concern, fiddling with one of her pigtails.

"He'll survive fine for as long as he has to. Me and him are stubborn that way." Lea scoffed while West rolled her eyes. He moved over to Serah's crystallized form before hauling her over his shoulders. "We need to show Lightning this; no doubt Hades has been playing her by telling her he can get Serah back."

"And you think this Lightning person's just going to change sides now?" Wesr asked.

"Hey, I know Lightning. Without the life of her sister holding her back, there's no way she'd be working for Hades." Lea replied. "By the way, you're going to have to do most of the fighting if we run into any heartless."

Both West and Lea nodded to each other before rushing out of the darkness of the Underworld. With a crystallized Serah with them, they made their way back up to the Coliseum.

**PrismRain13: yeah, I couldn't resist adding more character development for West and little moments between her and Riku. Great job for those of you who guessed right for Lightning's reasons for helping Hades.**

**Hades: I'm horrible, aren't I?**

**PrismRain13: So, I know I'm basically using the movie did, but c'mon; how could they not have used this plot line in the games?! It would have totally worked! And yeah, there's supposed to be five Titans. But I decided to leave the Cyclopes out because he'd mess up what I have planned for this world. Maybe he could be a secret boss? Don't forget to review! T'ill next time!**


	37. Wrath of the Titans

**PrismRain13: hey guys I'm back! So, this chapter took a lot longer to write than I expected; over 5,000 words, new record! By the way, anyone else excited for _Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII_?!**

**Lightning: *sarcastically* great, more pain, suffering and torturous battles for me.**

**PrismRain13: come on! Just ignore the haters! You have lots of fans out there! I know you're one of my favs! *fangirl squeal***

**Lightning: Clearly you have no idea what I go through. **

**PrismRain13: and KINGDOM HEARTS III IS FINALLY IN DEVELOPMENT! I'm in gamer heaven! Now my life is complete!**

**Lightning: *groan* Prism still claims no ownership over anything she writes about. It belongs to Square Enix and Disney.**

**_Chapter 36: Wrath of the Titans_**

Sora barely ducked out of the way of an attack from Lightning's sharp blade, escaping with only a shallow cut on his arm. Donald quickly healed him before firing blizzard and fire spells at her and Goofy shielding him as more thunder attacks rained down upon them. With a flick of her wrist her blade transformed into a gun as she fired rapid bullets at Goofy's shield. Odin was figting against both Hercules and Cloud; with his expert use of his double-bladed sword, he was proving to be a challenge for the two to handle. Even with Hercules's god-like strength and Cloud's soldier training.

As Sora blocked another of Lightning's sword attacks, he noticed she was becoming more and more frustrated. And speaking from experience, he knew this battle was about to take a turn for the worst. She snarled at her opponent, a dangerous look in her eyes. A swift kick to Sora's abdomen caused him to tumble backwards into Donald and Goofy as the trio fell to the ground. While Lightning backflipped in front of Odin with her hand slowly raising into the air.

The trio pushed themselves up to their feet and Hercules and Cloud rushed to their side to make sure their friends were alright. As Cloud looked up at Lightning, his eyes widened at what Lightning was doing, while the others looked at her in confusion.

"Get ready!" Cloud exclaimed, holding his sword in front of him.

"Why? What's she doing?" Sora asked, following the soldier's lead and raising the Keyblade.

"She's activating her eidolon's limit! And believe me, this is going to hurt!" Cloud's words had proven to be painfully true. Odin let go of his sword before jumping up into the air and transforming into a golden, mechanical horse and landing back on solid ground. Lightning nodded to the giant before picking up the previously discarded sword, jumping on his back and pulling apart the sword so in her hands were two golden, curved blades.

"We'll carve out a new fate!" Lightning exclaimed before both she and Odin rushed into battle again. They fearlessly attacked their opponents with sharp, deadly swipes from the swords and violent kicks from Odin's hooves.

Then, Odin came to an abrupt halt. Lightning stood up from her position on his back before jumping into the sky and spinning around in the air. Dark pink rose petals rained down on them as they felt the blades do their damage even though they weren't touching them.

"The storm is here!" Lightning exclaimed as she landed on solid ground with both blades behind her back. The team of five all felt a sharp pain to their chests as they were all forced to their knees as the final blow of the limit. Lightning stood up, putting both ends of the sword back together and handed it to Odin who disappeared in a flash of light and rose petals.

Knowing that she won, Lightning turned to the weak, fallen forms of her opponents. They were all out of potions, Donald and Sora were all out of magic to use any more cure spells and were too weak to do anything to fight back. Lightning drew her gunblade once more and pointed it at Sora's throat, the young Keybearer gulping in fear.

"Lightning!" Cloud pleaded to his childhood friend, "Don't! This isn't you! What happened to the Lightning who knew and fought for what was right?!"

"Sorry, Cloud." Lightning replied emotionlessly. "But people change." She raised her blade and the young man winced and closed his eyes, expecting the worst.

"STOP THE FIGHT!" A voice screamed just before Lightning could cut Sora down. West and Lea, carrying the crystallized Serah rushed into the arena. Lightning snapped her head open and her eyes widened at the sight of Lea.

"Lea?! What are you doing here?!" She demanded.

"Saving your rear!" Lea exclaimed, setting Serah down in front of him. At the sight of her sister, Lightning's eyes widened as she dropped her gunblade in shock and rushed over to the crystal statue, dropping to her knees. West took the opportunity to distribute stolen potions among the fallen, and ethers to Donald so he could help by using his curing magic.

"Serah?" Lightning gasped, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "This can't be! Hades said she was dead!"

"That's why you accepted Hades's employment?" Hercules realized, pushing himself up to his feet. Lightning slowly and sadly nodded her head.

"He said he could bring Serah back. He said that she hadn't been crystallized; that she'd been killed instantly." Lightning replied, hastily whipping away her tears. "He said if I fought in the games and destroyed you that he'd bring Serah back to life and that he'd get rid of my curse as a l'cie."

Cloud knelt down beside his childhood friend and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "That's the thing about Hades, Lightning. Trust me, he always lies. I speak from experience."

"Where's Riku?" Sora asked West and Lea, noticing his friend's absence.

"Hades took him." West snarled, pounding her fists together. "He wants Riku to use his Keyblade to free some of his 'friends' for him. When I get my hands on that no good piece of-"

"The Titans!" Hercules realized. "It's the only thing he'd need a keyblade for! How could I not have seen this?! Of course he'd try this again!"

"We gotta get up there and stop him!" Donald agreed. Hercules nodded his head before whistling into the sky. A second later, Pegasus flew down and landed in front of Hercules, whinnying with excitement. Sora followed his lead by activating hs armor and summoning his keyblade glider as both Donald and Goofy jumped on with him.

As Sora looked back, he saw Lightning still kneeling in front of her crystallized sister. For the first time, Sora realized how much pain Hades really caused her. It was like when he met Cloud, Leon and Auron for the first time. They were all tough on the outside from first appearances, but then they revealed the reason behind their bitterness was because of something traumatic happening in their past.

"Lightning?" Sora asked as Lightning turned to face the young keyblade master. "Why don't you come with us?" As soon as the words left his mouth, the rest of his team stared at him with their eyes wide and mouths open in complete shock.

"Are you kidding me?!" Demanded Lightning, standing up and crossing her arms over her chest. "I tried to kill you not even five minutes ago and you already forgive me enough to go on this mission with you?! Are you always this trusting?"

"Look, I can tell you're not a bad person." Sora replied. "And I know we won't be able to win this alone. Everyone deserves a second chance, even you. And even if you are a le gee or whatever, that's not a good enough reason to just leave you. Sometimes bad things happen to good people; but things will only get better if we help them."

Meg and Phil strode into the arena and stood beside Serah's crystallized form, smiling at Lightning after listening to Sora's words. There was a moment of silence until West spoke up.

"Wow, Sora. When'd you become the voice of wisdom?" West giggled, playfully punching him in the arm.

"Hey, you say that like I shouldn't know better." Sora laughed as the group turned back to the young woman, awaiting her response. Lightning muttered something under her breath and remained silent, before finally rolling her eyes and looking at Sora.

"I must be out of my mind." The soldier scoffed, reluctantly shaking hands with Sora. "Alright, I'm in. But I want Serah protected."

"Can I trust you guys to take care of her sister?" Cloud asked Meg and Phil who both nodded their heads encouragingly.

"Don't worry, we won't let anything happen." Meg replied in a reassuring tone. Lightning seemed a little concerned with leaving her sister, but gave a nod of satisfaction. She still looked just as determined as the others to go fight Hades.

Hercules, West and Lea all jumped on Pegasus. While Lightning placed a hand over her heart allowing the crystal to resurface, and allowing her to resummon Odin. The summon reappeared before her in his horse form as Lightning jumped on to his back. She then held out her hand for Cloud who looked at her questioningly before taking her hand and being hoisted behind her.

The newly formed team of eight took off to the skies with intense speed, heading straight for Olympus and the battle that awaited them. _I hope we're not too late_, Hercules thought as the mountain leading up to the kingdom of the gods came closer and closer into perspective.

~*KHIII*~

The golden doors violently burst open, announcing the arrival of the Titans. Kairi, Mickey, Max, Zeus and the rest of the gods took their stances, but nothing could prepare the princess of heart for what stormed through the entrance. Four terrifying deadly giants all representing different elements.

One was made out of heavy armor-like stone with two heads growling at the scene before it. Another was an ice skeleton with deadly sharp claws and teeth. A third was a huge pile of moving lava that drowned and burned everything in its path. The last one was literally a giant tornado with two big, scary red eyes.

The Rock Titan brought down a fist towards Kairi who quickly jumped out of the way and fired a blast of fire magic at one of the heads, dealing a little damage. But then as its attacks grew more aggressive, Kairi was having a hard time keeping up. The Ice Titan stormed in next, shooting sharp ice shards at the gods. Max managed to deflect some of the attacks, but it was starting to wear him down. Mickey and Zeus were firing blasts of light and thunderbolts at the Lava Titan but no matter what they did, it didn't seem to take any damage.

Meanwhile, the rest of the gods were left to fight against the Wind Titan. They weren't even five minutes into the fight before the Titan raised its tornado arms, sucking in and capturing all the other gods like an over-powered vacuum. Now Zeus and Hermes were the only gods left standing.

Mickey and Zeus were still trying to fight off the Lava Titan, but were still unsuccessful. the god of thunder was becoming angrier and angrier. As Zeus reached behind him to grab another thunderbolt, he gasped in shock when he felt nothing.

"I need more thunderbolts!" Zeus roared at Hermes.

"Uh, Hephaestus has been captured, my Lord. Everyone's been captured-" but before Hermes could finish, Pain and Panic appeared out of nowhere and grabbed him by the legs. "I've been captured! Hey, hey! Watch the glasses." Hermes screamed as both Hades's minions dragged him off.

"Things aren't looking too good for us, guys!" Max exclaimed, jumping out of the way of another attack from the Ice Titan.

"Got that right, dog boy!" A voice roared through the clouds. The team's heads all snapped up to find Hades flying in on his dark chariot. Kairi's eyes widened at the sight of one of her best friends tied up with dark smoke chains behind the Lord of the Dead.

But before anyone had a chance to react, the Rock Titan grabbed her, Mickey and Max in a strong grip in its giant hands. The trio struggled with all their might against the Titan, but it's grip was too tight and painful.

Then, both Lava and Ice Titans towered over a defenseless Zeus before releasing their respective elemental breaths on him from both sides. Creating a mountain prison for the king of the gods. Zeus struggled with all his might, but even with his godly strength he was trapped.

"Riku!" Mickey gasped, struggling against the Rock Titan's grip. "What happened?!"

"Mickey, I'm sorry." Riku responded guiltily. "I didn't have a choice."

"To think, all it took was threatening freckles's pathetic life and Riku here jumped on the band wagon." Hades laughed.

"You'll never win!" Kairi exclaimed as she kept struggling. "Once Sora, Cloud and Hercules get out of the Coliseum, you'll be sorry!"

"Yeah, sure. Hate to disappoint you, princess but that's not going to happen. Right about now my champion should be finishing off that fight and giving the crowd a good show! Now that Hercules has his little army separated from him, getting rid of worder boy's going to be a piece of cake. Gotta say though; I'm a little disappointed Cloud turned hero. Me and him worked so well together!"

"Cloud Strife is a true hero on the inside, Hades. The same goes for the young lad, Sora, my son and the rest of their team." Zeus snarled as both Titans continued their work.

"That's right!" Mickey agreed. "We won't be backing down anytime soon!"

"Well, we'll see if your hero-complex stays after Maleficent's done with you pipsqueaks." Hades replied after creating a dark throne for himself out of black smoke and shoving Riku's captive form to the ground. "Hope you enjoyed your freedom. I know Xehanort's going to love what we dug up for him when he gets back."

"Wait! Xehanort?!" Riku exclaimed. "What are you talking about?! What do you mean, he's coming back? How's that possible?! Both Ansem and Xemnas are gone!"

"Sorry, kid. No spoilers." Hades smirked. As he looked towards his brother, he saw that Zeus was in a burning rage. If it weren't for the combined powers of the Ice and Lava Titans, then the king of the gods would have been attacking Hades with everything he had.

"You've gone too far this time, brother. I swear to you, Hades, when I get out of this-" Snaled Zeus before finally being entirely covered.

"I'm the one giving orders now, bolt boy. And I think I'm gonna like it here." The Lord of the Dead replied victoriously, feeling the satisfaction of finally achieving victory over Olympus. All the gods and world-travelers were captured, Zeus was powerless, Hercules and the spiky-haired brat would soon meet their ends, the heartless were doing their jobs and he was sure to be back in Xehanort and Maleficent's good books. What could possibly stop him now?

"Don't get too comfortable, Hades!" A voice suddenly roared from behind him. Hades spun around and his eyes widened in complete shock at what he saw. All the nuciances Hades thought he'd dealt with were charging into Olympus battle-ready, including Lightning.

The team burst through the gates and dismounted. Odin and Sora's keyblade armor vanished while Pegasus flew on ahead to help free the gods. They all raised their weapons and charged into the battle ground, Goofy being the first to deal any damage.

"Hey you big bully!" The knight exclaimed, lifting up his sheild. "Leave Maxie alone!" Goofy lifted up his shield and threw it at the Titan like a frisbee. The shield hit the Rock Titan directly in one of its heads, distracting it long enough for Kairi, Max and Mickey to wiggle loose and jump down.

Goofy didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around Max in a fatherly embrace as soon as his feet touched the ground. Though Max found it slightly embarrassing, he was still relieved that his dad was okay. Hercules wasted no time in sprinting towards the makeshift mountain his father was trapped in, followed by Cloud and Lightning.

Sora quickly scanned the area, before running towards Hades and the bound Riku with West, Mickey and Kairi hot on his heels. Hades snarled at the group of four, but before Sora could attack the god with his keyblade, he vanished in his signature black smoke. Kairi raised Destiny's Embrace, the light from the weapon disintegrating the smoke chains that had held Riku prisoner. Riku barely had a moment to breathe before West toppled him over in an attack-hug.

"Are you okay?!" Riku demanded, grabbing her shoulders and pushing her away from the hug, looking for any sings of injury.

"Riku, chillax already, I'm fine. What about you?" West replied as they both stood up.

"I've been better." Riku admitted before turning to the king. "Mickey, I'm so sorry; this is all my fault."

"No one blames you, Riku; you did what you had to do to keep your friends safe." Mickey replied.

"Yeah." Sora agreed, patting his friend on the shoulder. "It's what I would have done." He looked at Kairi as the last words left his mouth, blushing slightly.

Meanwhile, as Cloud and Lightning knocked away the Lava and Ice Titans, Hercules climbed to the top of the frozen lava mountain. Digging his fingers into the substance, Hercules summoned all his strength to break apart the mountain. Golden light erupted from the cracks and Zeus emerged from his former prison, embracing his son happily.

"Thank you, my boy." Zeus smiled. However, their reunion was cut short; Hades rose in front of the group looking angrier than he ever had before.

"WHAT?!" Hades roared, becoming covered in red flames. "HOW COUKD YOU IDIOTS HAVE STOPPED ME _AGAIN_?!" The red flames slowly faded, but Hades still looked just as mad as he turned to Lightning. "And you, missy. What about our deal?! You want that sister of yours to stay and rot in the Underworld?! What the heck, babe?!"

"Sorry, but I'm not interested in fighting for you; especially not when I found out you lied to me about Serah's fate and ending my fate as a l'cie!" Lightning snapped, pointing her gunblade threateningly at the god with a thunderous spirit clearly visible in her eyes. Hercules and Cloud stood strongly beside her, Sora running beside them and raising Kingdom Key.

Hades' eyes widened in surprise for a second before snarling and boiling in rage at the heroes in front of him. "Alright! That's it! This is the last straw! You've all just won a one-way ticket to the Underworld! For real this time!"

With a snap of his fingers, a barrier appeared around the god, Hercules, Cloud, Lightning and Sora. Trapping them in a makeshift arena.

"Sora! No!" Kairi exclaimed, rushing up to and pounding her fists against the barrier trapping Sora with the god of the underworld. Hades wasn't going to hold back; and he had four Titans on his side, could Kairi actually loose Sora? No, they couldn't, _not when we've come this far,_ she thought. She could't loose him.

Just then, Riku ran up to her and pulled her out of the way of an upcoming attack. Kairi had been so deep in thought that she hadn't noticed that the Rock Titan was trying to crush them. Kairi rolled out of the way of an attack from the Ice Titan, coming beside the rest of her teammates who all had their weapons raised and prepared to fight against the four Titans.

"Zeus needs to free the other gods." Mickey quickly explained. "And with Sora, Cloud, Herc and Lightning trapped, we'll have to deal with the Titans."

"Awesome." Max grumbled sarcastically. "Remind me to thank them later for giving us the hard job."

Riku was about to retort to Max's comment before he was interrupted by the Lava Titan spitting boiling lava in their direction and the team screaming and dodging the deadly molten rock. The four Titans all unleashed their respective elements on the eight world-travellers who all kept dodging and healing until they were all separated and facing up against a Titan.

Donald and Mickey ran in front of the Lava Titan but had to rapidly move around the space as the Titan spat small, hot balls of fire and lava at the duo. One hit Donald's tail and the duck howled in pain as hit tail feathers erupted into flames. Thinking quickly, Mickey used a water and a cure spell to put the fire out and heal his friend. The Mage boiled with anger and in a rage, cast a blizzard spell at the Titan. The spell hit the Titan in the chest causing it to stumble backwards. Discovering ice magic as its weakness, Donald used all his magic in casting his strongest blizzard attacks. Mickey used his magic to heal both himself and Donald and sent beams of light magic towards the Titan. Clearly not amused at the thought of being beaten by a duck and a mouse, the Lava Titan released a loud roar and raised an arm dripping with lava and swiped at the duo who jumped out of the way at the last possible second.

Lea rushed towards the Ice Titan with Max following closely behind. The ex-nobody wasted no time in throwing his chackrams at it, causing it to stumble slightly but still not cause too much damage. The Ice Titan took in a deep breath and blew a clod wind with sharp icicles at the two. Thinking quickly, Max grabbed Lea by the back of his jacket and rode out of the way on his skateboard. As soon as Max dropped him off, Lea allowed both his chackrams to become engulfed in red-orange flames. He violently threw both weapons towards the Titan's chest, causing an intense amount of damage. Max used his skateboard to block icicle attacks being thrown at him and dealing minor damage worth his attacks to the Titan's legs.

West and Kairi soon found themselves trapped in a corner with the Rock Titan looming over them. But before the two-headed giant could grab them, the two girls quickly ran out from underneath the Titan's legs, confusing it. West used her quick attacks against the Titan's legs with Kairi using her Keyblade for stronger attacks. This caused it to loose balance, fall and become temporarily immobile. Both girls used this opportunity to jump up on to the Titan's shoulders and attack both heads with everything they had. Kairi and West attacked a head each. Kairi using light magic and general yet deadly attacks with her Keyblade and West using her knife to carve deep damage and quick, varied attacks. Just then, the Titan began to stir and Kairi and West quickly jumped down before it could deal any serious damage to either of them. Landing safely on Olympus's ground, Kairi and West raised their weapons again and rushed straight back into battle.

Riku and Goofy were left to deal with the Wind Titan. Both were having a hard time getting any solid hits in considering they seemed to move right through it. But still, the Titan was causing severe damage to both knight and Keyblade Master with Aero magic and throwing them around Olympus with its intense winds and tornadoes. Goofy quickly pulled out two potions, healing both himself and Riku from the deadly attacks. As a desperate attempt, Goofy threw his shield at the Titan. The shield hit the Titan directly in one of its red eyes as it released a howl of pain as the shield returned to its owner. Riku and Goofy nodded once towards each other and quickly got out of their opponent's eyesight. Both remained at a safe distance from the deadly wind while Riku summoned dark firaga and fired the dark flames at its eyes and managing to cause quite a bit of damage. Goofy kept throwing his shield at the eyes and defending himself and Riku from the wind.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, while his friends fought against the Titans, Sora was running, dodging and rolling out of the way of Hades' violent attacks. The god looked even more determined than Sora had ever seen him on finishing off his enemies, and was firing beams of fire out of his hands at the group of four. The entire team found themselves exhausting themselves trying to stay out of the way of Hades's fury.

Hercules raised his fist, rushing to attack Hades but The Lord of the Dead was one step ahead of him. He shot a fire spell at the demigod's chest, knocking him clean off his feet. Smirking, Hades's entire arm exploded with more flames. The god flicked his wrist, sending the deadly flames at Hercules. However, before Hercules could be roasted alive, the fire was blocked by Cloud's heavy Buster Sword. The ex-soldier released a strong counter-attack upon Hades, leaving the god vulnerable for a short period of time while Sora and Lightning moved to attack him. Cloud quickly pulled out a potion and tossed it to his friend, who gratefully drank its contents. As soon as he was healed, Hercules stood up to his feet and nodded towards Cloud before they both rushed back into battle alongside Sora and Lightning.

Lightning athletically leapt straight towards Hades with her gunbade raised and unleashed a battle cry. In a fit of rage she swung her bade at the god, followed by her thunder spells and blasts of white non-elemental magic. She managed to cause some minor damage, but overall just made Hades angrier.

Snarling at the god, Cloud raised his sword up to his face. Taking in a deep breath, then pointing the buster sword at Hades.

"Give me strength!" Cloud exclaimed, rushing straight towards Hades with his sword raised. The ex-soldier skidded to a stop in front of Hades and attacked him with eight strong, violent, powerful strikes from his blade. "This is it!" Then, Cloud jumped up into the air, grasping the hilt with both hands before hitting Hades with one more, powerful blow on his way down(1).

The god snarled in anger and raised his hands in the air. Before anyone had a chance to defend themselves or even react, Hades turned red and the flames on his head grew hotter and taller. At first, Sora thought he was going to use his Flare attack like he had seen him use in the past. But he was completely unprepared for what happened next. A giant, fiery explosion erupted from Hades's body. It grew and grew into a dome of boiling fire as the team of four were soon engulfed in the flames.

The fire slowly faded away, revealing Sora, Cloud, Hercules and Lightning weak and practically on their knees due to the intensity of the attack. Hades smirked, knowing he had the heroes right where he wanted them And began to advance towards Hercules.

Thinking quickly, Sora pointed Kingdom Key at his friend and cast a quick cure spell to help Hercules get his strength back. What surprised Sora was that after his spell was cast, Hercules was getting healthier and healthier as though more than one spell was being cast upon him. Sora raised an eyebrow before turning around to find Lightning bending over in pain but casting a chain of cure spells at Hercules. She looked as though she was going to pass out from the exhaustion. Before Cloud, who looked just as weak, came up behind her and pulled her up to her feet. Sora quickly tossed both soldiers potions and cast his cure spells on both of them. Lightning gave him a quick nod before healing the young Keyblade Master as well, then the three of them rushed to Hercules's side to aid him.

Still, the god's attacks were focused on Hercules, who seemed to both cause and take the most damage. Finally having enough, the demigod brought his fists together and gained a bright golden glow around his body.

"You can't stop a true hero!" Hercules exclaimed. Within seconds, Hercules was ramming straight into Hades; a golden blur as he ran into him from all directions. Finally, Hercules came to a screeching halt right in front of the god. The son of Zeus pulled back his fist as it began to glow. The glow kept intensifying until Hercules rammed his fist straight into Hades's gut, knocking the gstable an across Olympus. "How's that for ya?"(2)

The final blow of Hercules's limit was enough to knock Hades off his feet. And with a final strike from Sora's Keyblade, he was clean out cold as the barrier surrounding them disappeared. Then Zeus, followed by the rest of the freed gods rushed into the scene, ready to finish off the battle. After grabbing a handful of fresh thunderbolts from Hephaestus, Zeus tossed them at the Titans. The bolts hit each Titan directly, causing them to be temporarily dazed along with an intense amount of damage, giving Sora's team a chance to run out of the way while Hercules made his move.

The demigod ran straight past Riku and Goofy and roughly grasped the Wind Titan's tail. He lifted the Titan with little effort and swung it around Olympus, sucking in the weakened forms of the three other Titans.

At that moment, Hades pushed himself up to his feet, his eyes widening at the sight of his defeated Titans. He was so distracted, he didn't even notice Lightning running over to him until it was too late. The l'cie pulled back her gunblade and slammed it into Hades's back, sending him flying straight into the Wind Titan. Hades screamed as the Titan's winds sucked him inside. Hercules kept swinging the Titan around until he finally let go, tossing them straight back into the prison they came out of. And with Zeus throwing one of his mighty thunderbolts; they were locked away once again with Hades as the ocean covered the prison.

The battle for Olympus was over and a victory on their part. But after thinking back to what Hades had told them, Riku had a feeling that the worst was yet to come.

**PrismRain13: so this pretty much wraps up Olympus Coliseum, just a little bit more in the next chapter then we'll be moving on. Plus we got a little bit of foreshadowing for future chapters.**

**Lightning: you better make sure nothing happens to my sister Prism!**

**PrismRain13: can't spoil the entire story now. Thanks for reading the latest chapter! Don't forget to review!**

**- (1) - Cloud's limit: _Omnislash_**

**- (2) - Hercules's limit: _Zero to Hero_**

**_-_Jared Reese: Hopefully the finished result is satisfying; I'm going to try to be a little faster with my updates I just had a lot of stuff for this chapter.**

**-Guest: Yes, yes Lea will find someone; perhaps in the next few chapters *smirk*. And I'm not too sure about the whole Lulu situation, but West will find out at some point.**


	38. Warnings

**PrismRain13: hey guys! I'm back after a crazy month of work, college courses and vacations. Plus I got to go to my third animé convention; my Astrid cosplay was a big hit! But sadly, hardly anyone recognized Cissnei :(**

**Phil: they kept confusing her for Axel, how do you mess that up?**

**PrismRain13: I know right?! Plus, I FINALLY GOT TO SEE FANDOM HEARTS THE MUSICAL! It was so frikin hilarious! I laughed practically throughout the entire thing! And the music was amazing and catchy! If you haven't seen it yet, go check out Kingdom Hearts 1's parody musical!**

**Phil: woah. You're excited.**

**PrismRain13: I know! Plus, Tyler Mann(Sora) and Joshua Smith(Riku), HOTTIES! **

**Phil: oy, women. *back to the audience* got two words for you readers; Prism owns nothing!  
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**PrismRain13: and just to get something out of the way; guys, I'm aware what I write here probably won't be accurate to the real KH3, but I'm not going to leave this story. So please don't abandon me when it comes out *kitty eyes*.**

**_Chapter 37: Warnings_**

Not long after Hercules had disposed of Hades and the Titans, Olympus had been completely rebuilt in an instant thanks to the gods. This allowed Zeus and his wife, Hera to sit on the thrones once again. The rest of the gods were with them with restored power, eagerly awaiting what Zeus had to say to the mortals who had saved their world and kingdom.

Sora found himself slightly nervous about being in the presence of the rather intimidating gods, but a smile from Kairi and the soft touch of her fingers intertwined with his was enough to soothe him. As well as cause his heart to slightly flip-flop. Pegasus had flown back down to the Coliseum and came back up five minuites later with Meg, Phil and Serah's crystal statue. Lightning wasted no time in taking her sister from the two and holding her protectively as though she was about to loose her again.

At that moment, Zeus cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everyone around him. He slowly rose to his feet and despite the intimidating aura surrounding him, his kind smile was enough to ensure everyone was relaxed.

"Words cannot express my deepest gratitude for what all of you have done here today." He addressed the group before him. "I know I, and my fellow gods are highly thankful of you all. I am proud to call each and every one of you true heroes!"

The group all beamed in happiness and instantly began congratulating each other, patting eachother on their backs and high fiving.

"Hmph. That's a matter of opinion." Phil huffed irritably, crossing his arms but he went ignored.

"Now then, is there anything that I can do for you?" Zeus asked the group. Sora shrugged before turning to look at Lightning; kneeling in front of her crystalized sister and clutching her heart. She was trying to hold back tears.

"Sir," Sora spoke up to Zeus. "Would it be possible for you to get rid of Lightning's curse and get her sister back?" At Sora's words, Lightning's head immediately snapped up with her mouth open in shock. Zeus took a glance towards Lightning and sighed in defeat.

"After what you have done here today, young lady, I wouldn't hesitate to remove your curse." Zeus replied. "However, after watching you fight; I've come to the conclusion that yours is a rare curse that will be nearly impossible to remove. I would remove it if I could, but this is caused by something beyond my power."

"It's alright." Lightning replied with a hint of disappointment in her voice. "I didn't expect you to be able to do much after I found out Hades lied. But, will Serah ever get out of that crystal?"

"It is my understanding that your sister is asleep. I believe she'll awaken when she is ready." Zeus replied. Lightning gave him a short nod before turning her attention back to her sister and Zeus moved to talk with the world-travellers again. "I truly am sorry for not being able to do anything about miss Farron's curse, but please, take this. I hope it will help you in your future battles."

Then, the king of the gods held out his hand as a small white and gold orb of light appeared. It slowly fell down as Sora held out his hands. The orb landed softly in the teenager's gloved palms and Sora noticed that within the orb was a white angel wing symbol. It was then that he, Donald and Goofy realized what it was; a new drive form.

The orb then split into four separate, smaller glowing balls of golden light. Then, flew and hovered in front of Sora, Riku, Kairi and Mickey before flying into their hearts.

"Thank you, Zeus." Mickey smiled up at the god. "But I'm sorry we couldn't visit under better circumstances."

"We'll have to meet up when the fate of the worlds aren't at stake." Zeus laughed joyfully. "Of course, knowing you, Mickey you'll take care of everything. You always were one to hog the adventure."

"Don't worry mister high and mighty, the king's not having all the fun; we'll be right here to back him up!" Lea added, ruffling Mickey's ears.

Suddenly, the decorative, golden gates of Olympus began to glow. Kingdom Key appeared in Sora's hand as he looked towards Kairi. She gave him an encouraging smile, motioning for him to step forward. Slowly, Sora let go of Kairi's hand, firmly grasped his keyblade and pointed it at the gates, a glowing crown emblem appearing underneath his feet. There was a strong gust of wind blowing around him as a beam of light shot up from the gates and formed the shape of a keyhole in the sky. Sora then pointed the keyblade up at the keyhole as a beam of light shot straight into it.

The light died down quickly, signalling that it was time to move on. Sora felt a little sad leaving one of the worlds he always visited on his travels, but knew that his team was needed elsewhere. Suddenly, Sora was pulled into a bone-crushing hug from Hercules and was soon followed by the rest of his team joining in the group hug.

"I'm really gonna miss you guys." Hercules smiled as he finally let go, allowing Sora a chance to breathe.

"Me too, Herc." Sora said, playfully punching his friend in the shoulder. "We need to have another match one of these days." Hercules released a laugh before Meg came up beside him and slipped her hand into his and cuddling up to him.

"Just don't get too cocky now that the big man's called you true heroes!" Phil pointed out. "And make sure to keep Cloud in line!"

"Phil! I didn't even ask them yet!" Cloud exclaimed, capturing everyone's attention. The world-travellers stared at him in confusion as Cloud sighed in defeat. "When I got here, I told Herc and Phil that as soon as I found a way off this world I'd take it. I knew right from the start that Sephiroth wasn't here, but I have to find him. I need to finish him off once and for all."

There was silence across Olympus, as the group took a moment to think about what Cloud said. Finally, Sora shook his head and smiled up at Cloud.

"You know, I was going to ask you to come back to Radiant Garden anyway." Sora smiled, Cloud looking at him questioningly. "Tifa really misses you; she's worried. And she asked me to bring you home if I saw you."

"Plus I think we all wanted to see how the portal's coming. And I wanted to get an update from the Restoration Committee." Mickey added.

"Well, that settles it Cloud; your girl wants you home, you need to go." Meg said as Cloud nodded. The soldier then glanced towards Lightning. Ignoring the world around her and beating herself up over what happened to her sister when she was powerless to help her. He hadn't seen his childhood friend in years, he couldn't just leave her; not when she clearly needed support.

"Lightning," Cloud spoke up, getting her attention as she turned to face him. "You know, Radiant Garden's your home too. You should come back, you and Serah. You know you can't protect her alone."

Lightning's eyes widened at Cloud's words and was about to open her mouth to respond before Riku held up his hand.

"And before you pull the whole 'I'm a dangerous l'cie' thing, we don't care. You're our friend now and we'll help you out any way we can." The young man told her. "I promise that we'll help keep Serah safe no matter what."

"And who knows; maybe some of Ansem's research will give us some clues about l'cie." Lea added.

The female soldier crossed her arms over her chest, thinking long and hard about what Mickey had said. Ever since her parents died, she had to be strong for Serah. That responsibility only intensified after Radiant Garden was destroyed. For eleven years they'd been trying to survive with the elder sister doing everything necessary to make sure Serah was taken care of. And when Serah became a l'cie... Lightning paid for not being there when her younger sister announced her engagement. Lightning swore she'd find a way to save her sister, the process causing Serah to vanish and Lightning to become a l'cie herself.

After what seemed like a long time, Lightning released a sigh as her eyes met Cloud's. "You're right, Cloud. After all these years, I never thought I'd ever get back to Radiant Garden. But I guess it's time."

"Best of luck in your future endeavours." Zeus told the group.

"And don't forget to check in for more training!" Phil added. "Ya ain't gonna stay true heroes for long if you don't stay on top of your game!"

"You got it Phil!" Goofy exclaimed happily, helping Cloud and Lea hoist Serah's crystal on their shoulders. The group waved goodbye to the world's natives before walking away back to the Gummi ship and wandering out of Olympus's gates.

"You know one thing I don't get," Max said, capturing everyone's attention. "Hades said he separated us so Hercules wouldn't have an army fighting with him. We were all separated with that barrier during that battle, so how'd we win?"

"Hades took the word 'army' literally." Mickey replied. "What Hades didn't know was that we're always fighting together; connected in our hearts."

As Sora looked back, he couldn't help but feeling sad for leaving his friends on yet another world. But he soon smiled with happiness up at the constellation of himself, Donald and Goofy. But that smile only grew when the stars began to move and form into the shapes of Kairi, Riku, Mickey, Lea, West and Max standing beside them. As he continued to look, he noticed that more stars were moving towards a constellation of Hercules and beside him form the shapes of Lightning and Cloud.

The group took a moment to take in the astonishing sight, gazing upwards at the skies. Before silently striding back to enter the Gummi ship; their coordinates set for Radiant Garden.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, As Sora's team were just leaving Olympus Coliseum, another Gummi ship flew through space. It was an older ship coloured dark indigo with multiple battle scars and made of tough, sustainable armour. The outside of the ship clearly reflecited its pilot; Kyra.

The young woman had just recently completed a special mission assigned to her by Leon(or is it Squall now? Seriously would the guy just make up his mind!) and was currently on her way back to Radiant Garden. However, more than anything Kyra was ticked off. The black-haired young woman rolled her eyes at Rusty who barked from his position at the weapon's control, clearly agreeing with her.

Her "special mission" consisted of journeying to both Kim and TJ's respective worlds and picking up TJ's brainyac friend an Kim's tech guy in order to help Lewis, Phineas and Ferb construct the portal to the realm of darkness, which they were having an immensely difficult time with. What the eighteen year old hadn't counted on was heading back to Radiant Garden with six more passengers than she originally planned.

As soon as she had explained the situation to both people they needed, TJ's friends, Kim's boyfriend and his pet mole rat practically begging her to take them along. Now, Kyra was regretting her decision to let them all come.

TJ's friends were all around his age and height and were all ecstatic to see Radiant Garden and meet the people their friend considered his family. Clearly, TJ had told them too much.

The one Kyra was assigned to pick up; Gretchen, was a tall, skinny red-haired girl with a large, round glasses and a slight scattering of freckles. She was wearing a blue and white dress with loose pink socks and brown shoes.

The four others from TJ's world all were just as eager and amazed at the Gummi ship. Among them was another girl named Spinelli with black hair tied into short pigtails, mostly covered by an orange beanie, wearing a red dress with a black jacket, boots and stripped stockings.

The three boys from TJ's world were as different from each other as possible. Gus was the shortest had large glasses and extremely short blond hair and was eyeing everything in the ship cautiously. He was dressed in army green coloured pants and matching collared shirt. Next to him Mikey, a chubby blond boy reading a poetry book, a white t-shirt and jeans barely covered his middle. The last boy was Vince. He was tall and lean with dark hair and skin. And his green basketball jersey and black high tops strongly suggested he was an athlete.

From Kim's home world she had been assigned to pick up Wade, a ten-year old genius who managed her website and informed the teen hero of her missions. He was dark-skinned and slightly overweight dressed in a blue t-shirt with a grey shirt underneath and jeans and had freckles covering his cheeks. He was accompanied by Kim's boyfriend, Ron (Kyra had a hard time believing it). He was tall, clumsy and lanky dressed in a black shirt and cargo pants similar to what Kim once wore. His hair was blond and messy and like Wade, freckles were littered on his cheeks. And lastly, out of his pocket was a pink naked mole rat he had affectionately called "Rufus", who looked just as excited to be on a Gummi ship.

One of TJ's friends in particular, Spinelli was fascinated with the weapons the ship had and was constantly trying to get a closer look. She came up behind Kyra and stared at the controlls, eyes twinkling with curiosity.

"Don't even think about it, Spinelli." Kyra grumbled as Spinelli quickly pulled her hand away. "I swear, soon I'm going to loose it!"

"Aww come on!" Spinelli whined. "What's the point in having weapons on this tin can if ya don't use 'em?!"

"She's right, Spinelli. You might cause the ship to blow up!" Gus added nervously.

"Actually, Gus that's very unlikely." Wade said. "If the ship were to blow up it would be due to power failure, leaking fuel or attacks from the outside." Awkward silence filled the cockpit as soon as Wade finished talking, all the newcomer's eyes wide and on him.

"Wow, dude. Way to kill the mood." Vince grumbled, crossing his arms. "And here I was excited about space travel!"

"As was I." Gretchen replied. "However, according to my recent observations of this ship, I've concluded that it would prove to be very unsafe if we were to impact another ship or someone were to interfere with the engines-"

"Gretchen, my friend. We must not criticize the beauty of nature. If the ship were to explode, it is meant to be." Mickey said in a calm tone.

"This thing does have parachutes or something, right? " Ron interrupted, coming up beside Kyra. "I mean, no offence but Kim always makes sure to have something to make sure we're safe!" Rufus nodded his head and squeaked in agreement. Kyra was gritting her teeth in irritation and just about to burst.

"Will you all just cut it out! The ship's not going to blow up!" Kyra groaned. "Me and Rusty have been riding in Gummi Ships since I was ten years old; nothing like that ever happened!"

Just then, a sudden jolt caused the entire Gummi Ship to shake, knocking everyone clean out of their seats. The lights creepily flickered on and off, sending chills down their spines.

"What was it you were saying about 'nothing like that ever happened'?" Gus asked Kyra. The young woman shot Gus a death glare, causing the boy to cringe.

At that moment, Rusty jumped up to his paws, growling at the door leading to the engine room. Kyra pushed herself up to her knees and gasped at her companion; he was only this defensive when something truly dangerous wanted to hurt them.

"Rusty? What've we got, boy?" Kyra asked. Rusty released another growl and a few deep, warning barks. The young woman reached under the control panel and pulled out the bow and quiver of arrows that had aided her in battles on numerous occasions, getting ready for battle as the lights continued to flicker.

"Everybody, stay put." Kyra ordered, carefully positioning her bow and getting an arrow ready. "Rusty and I are going to go find out what's going on."

However, just as Kyra took a step forward, Spinelli sprinted right in front of the young warrior with her ams crossed and a determined look in her eyes.

"Hey, you're not checking that out without me!" She exclaimed.

"Get out of my way, Spinelli." Grumbled Kyra in an irritated tone while Rusty stared at TJ's friend in confusion.

"She's right, though." Ron spoke up from behind her, still sprawled on the floor. "Kyra, me, Rufus and Spinelli are coming with you; You need back up!" The small naked mole rat climbed up on typo of Ron's head, pulling his tiny paws into fists.

"Forget it!" Kyra snapped. "Rusty and I've gotten ourselves out of worse situations before. And I'm not risking your safety."

"Yeah, blah blah blah." Retorted the tomboy. "Try not to take to long; I don't wanna miss my first moment of action on this trip!" And with that, Spinelli pulled open the door leading into the hallway that would take her to the engine room and ran in without another word.

Kyra stood there, staring at the place Spinelli once was with her mouth wide open in shock. Then, Ron made his way back up to his feet and walked up beside Kyra.

"So, we going or what?" The older boy asked, Rufus shrugging his shoulders Muttering something that sounded like "I dunno".

Kyra released a small groan and face-palmed, her teeth gritting in irritation. After a few seconds, the young woman finally composed herself and turned to the remaining five in the cockpit. "None of you move a muscle; I don't think whatever's here with us will take kindly to kids." Then, Kyra and Rusty ran down the metal-plated, wire-filled hallway Spinelli went down with Ron and Rufus following closely behind.

It didn't take them long to find the young girl, considering there weren't that many areas on the Gummi ship. After running down a ramp directly underneath the cockpit, Spinelli and the open engine room came into view. She was standing, eyes and mouth wide open in front of a tall figure dressed in the black hooded cloak of the faded Organization XIII. In one gloved hand he held an assortment of ripped, colourful wires. And, judging by the damage done to the ship's wires behind him, they belonged there. In his second hand, pointed at Spinelli's troat, was something Kyra never thought she'd see in the hands of their enemies; a Keyblade.

But this Keyblade in particular was much different than the ones she'd seen Sora's team use. It gave off a strong aura of darkness and was spiked in several directions, coloured in different shades of blue, black and white. What really stood out as key shapes in the weapon were demonic wings, a horned demon head, an eye, an hourglass and a stopwatch.

Shaking her head to bring herself back to the present, Kyra quickly pulled out her bow and arrow again into a battle-ready position, snarling at the stranger. Rusty followed her lead by crouching low to the floor and growling dangerously. Ron nervously raised his fists and Rufus scurried back to his hiding place in Ron's pocket.

"Who are you?! What do you want?!" The young woman demanded, pulling her bow up to her cheek and pulling her arrow back. "If you think you're going to make us crash, you've got another thing coming!"

The mysterious figure raised his hooded head as though he were looking directly at Kyra. He slowly lowered his weapon, giving Kyra the chance she needed to pull TJ's friend protectively behind her as the figure threw the ripped wires to the floor.

Clearly seeing this person as an enemy, Kyra ran straight towards him, prepared for battle. She fired a number of arrows at him, but he dodged every time, causing the arrows to get stuck into the wall and wires instead. Snarling, the figure raised his keyblade and hit Kyra in the chest and shoulder with two violent, deadly blows. Kyra was knocked to her knees, but pushed herself back up and tried hitting the figure with the bow, delivering violent kicks and firing blasts of magic in the form of arrows. Both weapons locked when they tried to hit each other at the same time, their weilders pushing against eachother. However, the figure pulled back at lightning speed, causing Kyra to stumble. Then, he hit her with in the chest with a blast of dark magic as she tumbled backwards to the floor. Dropping her bow and arrow and grasping her chest and shoulder in pain. Her face paled as she felt blood dripping through her fingers.

Ron and Spinelli gasped in shock and rushed to her side, while Rusty growled angrily at the figure for hurting his companion. Still, in her weak state Kyra tried to pick up her weapon, before the figure knocked it out of her reach with his foot. The figure smirked from under his hood, reached up and pulled down it down. He was revealed to be a young man, not much older than Kyra herself, with tanned skin, unkept silver hair and deep, threatening yellow eyes.

"Straight to the point, are we? I like that." The figure spoke in a smooth voice. "As for why I am here, believe me when I say I'm not here to make you loose control of your precious Gummi Ship here. I've merely come with a message; the light has stood in our way long enough. But Xehanort always loves a challenge. The time will come for the light to snuff out, and we look forward to it. Soon, you will join who opposed us in the past." Releasing a cackle, the young man soon became engulfed with a dark shadow, disappearing without a trace.

"What the heck was that about?!" Spinelli exclaimed.

Rusty released a whimper, nuzzling Kyra's hand, deeply concerned for her health. Slowly trying to push herself up, Kyra released a gasp of pain as her kness buckled and she collapsed. But was fortunate enough to have Ron catch her before she hit the floor.

"Man, Kyra. You don't look good." Ron said.

"I'm fine... It's... Just a scratch..." Kyra moaned in pain as she tried to stand, only to fall again and hiss in pain.

"Sorry, Kyra but that doesn't look like it's 'just a scratch'." Spinelli said, crossing her arms but still, a look of concern spread across her features for the black-haired young woman. Just as Ron, Rufus and especially Rusty were. The fox was releasing small whines, pawing at Kyra's hand.

"We... need to... warn the others." Kyra mumbled. "Need to... Get... Back... To... Rad...iant..." And with that, Kyra collapsed on to the floor out of pain and sheer exhaustion. Panicked, Rufus scampered on to Kyra's neck, relieved when he felt a pulse. The mole rat climbed back into Ron's pocket just as he was struggling to lift the young woman's weakened form.

Whoever it was that did this to Kyra meant business, but it wasn't them he was after. He let them live to deliver his message to Sora's team. One thing was for certain; the worst of the battles were just around the corner. And everyone had to be prepared.

**PrismRain13: so now we're headed into the main point in the story. And don't worry guys, Kyra's not dead! She's just weak and tired after fighting the mystery guy.**

**Phil: *pfft* yeah, big secret who that guy was.**

**PrismRain13: so, on to where our new teammates are from; Spinelli, Gretchen, Gus, Mikey and Vince are from Disney's _Recess_. Ron, Rufus and Wade are from Disney's _Kim Possible._**

**Phil: don't forget to review you lazy bums! Or I'm making you run a thousand laps!**

**PrismRain13: and don't forget to vote on my poll for what summons you want to see!**

**-Jared Reese- pretty please don't abandon me! I wouldn't recommend starting a KH3 fic now, but if you can come close to finishing it by the time the real one (i'm guessing two years) comes out then I don't think it'll be a problem. Of course it's up to you.**


	39. Familiar Faces

**PrismRain13: hey guys! Here I am back with a new chapter! Thanks so much for the support guys! We're so close to 300 reviews!**

**Kyra: took you long enough. **

**PrismRain13: yeah, I know it's been awhile but hey, I've got other stuff going on. But on the bright side; My Rapunzel wig finally came! now I just need to dye a dress...**

**Kyra: But Halloween's over a month away.**

**PrismRain13: I'm a cosplayer! I need a head start!**

**Kyra: whatever. Prism still owns nothing other than the plot and her OCs. KH belongs to Disney and Square Enix, OCs like me and Rusty belong to Mysterygirl7Freak and the theme song _Final Distance_ belongs to Utada Hikaru.**

**_Chapter 38: Familiar Faces_**

With the three new passengers, the Gummi ship was much more crowded than usual. Sora found himself squashed in between Cloud and Riku on the couch with Mickey taking his place over at the controls (He had insisted Sora take a break and let someone else pilot). Lightning had left with her sister down to the engine room for some unknown reason as soon as she got on. Donald was teaching West about the weapons controls, Kairi was writing in a journal she brought with her and Lea was talking with Max.

As time progressed, Sora noticed Goofy was looking really uncomfortable and doing everything possible to avoid eye contact with Max ever since they left the coliseum. He would start polishing his shield, organize their item supplies and dig his face into an upside-down magazine. Sora had never seen Goofy act like this before and he had to admit, he was a little worried. What was going on with him?

It was then that Sora realized that Cloud had been talking to him. "Uhhh... Sorry, what was that?" Sora asked the ex-SOLDIER, grinning sheepishly.

"I asked if you heard anything from Lightning." Cloud grumbled in annoyance, rolling his eyes.

Sora shook his head. "She's just been really quiet in the engine room. I think she's still sad about her sister. Maybe we should check on her?"

Cloud gave the younger boy a nod of approval as they both stood up from their seat and began walking towards the engine room.

"Hey guys! Wait up!" Lea exclaimed, turning away from Max and running after them. The three walked in silence all the way down to their ship's lower levels pulling open the door to the engine room. Inside, Lightning was sitting on the floor, looking up sadly at Serah's crystal statue. She gave no indication that she heard them come in. Awkward silence filled the room until Sora stepped forward.

"Hey, Lightning?" The spiky-haired boy asked softly. "You doing okay?"

"I'm fine." The pink-haired woman snapped, causing Sora to jump. "I'm fine. just... leave me alone." A hint of sadness slipped into her voice.

"Talking to Serah?" Lea asked. There were a few moments of silence between the four as Lightning slowly nodded. "Did she ever mention accepting that date invitation I made twelve years ago?" The ex-nobody released a laugh at his attempt to lighten the mood, but Lightning clearly wasn't amused.

"Don't even go there." She snarled dangerously as she turned around, glaring daggers at Lea. Then she went back to looking at Serah's crystal. Cloud rolled his eyes at Lea before taking a seat beside Lightning.

"Nervous about going back?" He asked, Lightning shrugged emotionlessly.

"Look, Lightning. I'm sorry about what happened to Serah. But it wasn't your fault, no matter what you might think." Sora told her. "Serah would want you to stay strong. Plus, Zeus said she'll wake up eventually, right? And you'll be right here waiting for her."

"I guess you're right." Replied Lightning, just then the door opened and Max walked in.

"Sorry." He said. "The king just wanted me to tell you that we'll be landing soon."

"Okay. We're coming." Sora replied as he and Lea followed Max back up the stairs. Leaving Cloud and Lightning alone with the crystallized Serah.

"It's funny. Before, all I could think about was fighting and finding Serah." Mused Lightning, pushing herself back up to her feet. "But that kid, the way he talked about staying strong. I feel...different."

"Yeah, Sora does tend to have that affect on people." Cloud replied, just as the Gummi Ship was landing on the surface of Radiant Garden.

~*KHIII*~

The group strode out of the ship as soon as they landed, finding themselves in the middle of the marketplace. Lightning's sister was hoisted up on Lea's shoulder and he clearly wasn't enjoying it. They didn't have to wait long until they were surrounded by two familiar faces. Yuffie and Vincent.

"Hey guys! Whatcha doing back already?" the ninja demanded enthusiastically, pulling Sora into a sisterly hug.

"Just dropping off some friends." Replied Sora, stepping aside to reveal Cloud and Lightning. Both Yuffie and Vincent's expressions turned to ones of complete shock. The ninja was fast to recover as she bounced over to them.

"Cloud! Light! We missed you guys so much!" Yuffie squealed, wrapping her arms around them.

"Missed you too, Yuffie." Lightning replied as she wriggeled her way out of the ninja's group hug.

"Cloud, where've you been?" Vincent demanded. "Tifa said you disappeared after fighting with Sephiroth last year."

"Olympus Coliseum." Replied Cloud, trying to avoid Vincent's gaze. "I have no idea what happened to Sephiroth."

"At least you got more training in. Not that you really needed it." Goofy added.

Mickey laughed at Goofy's comment before stepping forward. "So how have things been here?"

"We think we might have a problem on our hands." Said Vincent.

"Yeah, Kyra went on a special mission for Squall to pick up some new recruits and her ship got attacked on the way back!" Exclaimed Yuffie.

"Is she okay?" demanded West with concern for one of her sister-figures.

"She's fine." Vincent assured her, West sighed in relief. "She got beaten up fairly badly and passed out on the ship, but they managed to get her back. Aerith's tending to her now. She said she wanted to see you guys when you got back."

"Though, it's probably not a good idea if you all go at once." Cloud told them. "It might be too much for Kyra to take in if she's still recovering."

At that moment, Max's stomach started growling loudly. "Hey. Think we can go look for some food soon? I'm starving!"

"Do you have a bottomless stomach or something?!" West giggled, poking his shoulder.

Mickey spoke up, "Whelp, it has been awhile since we had a decent meal, I say half of us go see Kyra and the rest of us goes to find some food."

The rest of the group agreed as they split off. Sora, Riku, Cloud(With Serah on his shoulder), Lightning, West and Lea followed Vincent back up to the castle. While Yuffie, Mickey, Kairi, Donald, Goofy and Max were left in the marketplace.

"Come on guys; I know a great place for lunch!" Yuffie exclaimed, running down the streets with the others following, trying to keep up with the enthusiastic ninja.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, Sora's group was climbing up the path that led to the castle. No one had said anything the entire trip until the front doors of the castle came into view. There, Sora, Riku and Lea stopped in their tracks at the sight of two familiar-looking castle guards.

They were both tall, muscular and dressed in dark blue uniforms white gloves and a red heart on the chest. The first one had ginger-coloured hair slicked back in various small spikes and small eyebrows. The second had long, wild black hair in dreadlocks tied in a ponytail and thick sideburns.

"Lexaeus!" Riku gasped.

"Xaldin!" Sora exclaimed at the same time while Lea snarled. The three of them drew their weapons, prepared to attack the former nobodies. However, before they could do anything, Vincent stepped in front of them, blocking their path.

"Stop! They're on our side." He announced. "Aeleus and Dilan and two others appeared to us shortly after you left."

"Okay..." Sora stated cautiously, lowering Kingdom Key and turning to the two former Organization members. "But why come here?"

"This was our original world." Dilan explained, glaring at Sora. "After we were recompleted, Braig found us and tried to persuade us to join his new organization with that witch."

"We all denied, of course." Continued Aeleus. "Now that we had our hearts back, we saw no reason in it. When we arrived here, we found your Restoration Committee and joined after taking up our old positions at the castle."

Silence spread throughout the group, allowing their story to digest.

"Wow. Guess it's a relief you guys aren't heartless jerks anymore." West mumbled. "So, who else got recompleted or whatever?"

"That would be me." A voice spoke from behind Dilan and Aeleus. They both stepped aside and a tall man stepped out. The bangs of his long, steel-blue hair completely covered one of his aqua eyes. He was dressed in a long, white lab coat, black pants and boots, a grey sweater vest and light purple tie.

"Zexion?" Lea questioned.

"Ienzo." He corrected. "How nice to see you again, Lea. And you too, Riku."

"You mean after your nobody tried to kill me? Yeah, great to see you again too." Riku grumbled sarcastically.

"Well, I can assure you than we mean you no harm." Ienzo stated. "We are not part of the dark anymore and have no desire to be."

"Is this everyone who got recompleted so far?" Lea asked. Dilan shook his head.

"Even was with us when we received our hearts, but after we got back here he took a Gummi ship and left with some of Ansem the Wise's research papers." He replied. "We don't know why he decided to leave, but he mentioned something about unfinished business on another world."

"When we get back in the field, we'll keep an eye out for him." Sora smiled. Aeleus and Dilan nodded their approval before walking over to Cloud and taking Serah off his shoulders.

"We'll take your sister to the castle's medical centre; Aerith will see what she can do." Dilan told Lightning who gave a short nod but insisted that she wouldn't leave her sister's side.

"Is Kyra still there?" West demanded. "Vincent told us that she wanted to talk to us." Ienzo nodded and stepped aside, granting the group access to the castle. With Vincent taking the lead and Aeleus and Dilan carrying Serah's crystal, they strode inside, walked up the stairs and down a hallway with brightly painted pictures of different worlds. And finally stopped in front of their destination.

Vincent pushed open the doors to the castle's medical centre Aerith had taken as her own. Unlike most hospitals Sora had seen, this one had a completely different feel to it. The walls were a warm yellow with a smooth beige floor. Recovery beds and cabinets full of medical equipment lined the walls while warm stained-glass windows were visible near the celing.

It didn't take them long to find Aerith and Kyra, as they were at the only occupied bed. Kyra was sitting with her arms crossed over her chest and an angry look in her eyes while Aerith was trying to calm her down and offer her more potions. Rusty was s curled up on the floor at Kyra's feet trying to take a nap.

"Aerith, I'm fine! Can't I go now?!"

"Are you sure? I don't think you're fully recovered." Aerith said calmly. Dilan and Aleus gently set Serah's crystal down on the bed beside them. Both girls turned their heads and Aerith's eyes widened at the sight of Cloud. She appeared stunned at first, but that soon passed and she beamed with happiness.

"You came back." She smiled. "We were so worried."

"Sorry." Cloud responded, trying his hardest to avoid her gaze. "It's something I still have to deal with." Neither soldier nor flower girl said another word to each other for a long time after that.

"So, Kyra, how're you feeling?" West asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yeah, now." the older girl grumbled, standing up and stretching. "I can't believe I lost to that creep."

"Woah. Whoever attacked you must have been a real piece of work." Lea stated.

"That's actually why I wanted to talk to you guys. I still don't know who for sure who he was, but he had a Keyblade." Kyra told them, just as everyone's jaws dropped from shock at the simple statement. They hadn't even thought that it eWorld be possible for their enemies to get a keyblade wielder on their side.

"A Keyblade? Seriously?!" Demanded Riku while Kyra nodded. "Do you remember what he looked like?"

She released an aggravated sigh and rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, he was in one of the organization coats, but he looked really young, like a little older than me. Dark skin, long silver hair and yellow eyes."

"Other than him being young, you just described what Xehanort looks like." Ienzo said thoughtfully. "Fascinating."

"Braig did say that Xehanort was coming back." Riku shrugged. "Guess we should have taken him more seriously."

"So, what? Did he go through a time warp or something?" West asked, "And why does he have a Keyblade?" The group turned to the four former organization members, hoping to gain awnsers.

"I cannot think of any way, or reason why Xehanort would want to make himself appear younger. And I have no idea how he could have received a Keyblade." Dilan told them.

"But we'll keep looking here. Hopefully what Even didn't take of Ansem's research and Xehanort's journals can give us some clues." Added Aeleus.

"You can always ask Tron too." Sora suggested. "His world's inside the computer."

"Great, while you guys get the easy job, we'll be breaking our backs." Lea grumbled in defeat.

West rolled her eyes, "Come on, Lea. You know you like it that way."

At that moment, the door swung open and Snow ran in, looking like he was going to pass out from being completely out of breath. He bent down, breathing heavily. Then, he gasped at the sight of Serah's crystal form. While Lightning stared at him in complete shock.

"Serah?" He beamed with happiness. "You're really here?!"

"You?!" Lightning snarled as her expression shifted to one of anger. It was then that Snow noticed Lightning and cheerfully waved at her.

"Hey sis!" Snow smiled. Lightning glared at him as she stormed over. No one saw it coming when Lighting curled her hands into a fist, raised her arm and punched Snow directly in the jaw, knocking him clean off his feet.

"DON'T YOU CALL ME THAT! I'M NOT YOUR SISTER!" Lightning roared. "LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO SERAH; YOU CALL THAT PROTECTING HER?!"

The rest of the group quickly dove into action. Cloud, Vincent and Lea tried to restrain the enraged Lightning while Sora, Kyra and Riku helped Snow to his feet. It took awhile until the air around them was calm enough to talk again.

"You guys know each other?" Riku asked, even though he felt he already knew the answer.

Lightning finally composed herself and resorted to glaring a death glare at Snow with her arms crossed. "We were made into L'cie together, with a few others." She replied coldly.

"And Serah's my fiancé." Show added, moving towards the crystal. His fingers softly and gently tracing the outline of her face.

"And does she look protected to you?!" Lightning snapped violently, "While you were slacking off here, I was the one scouring the worlds looking for her!"

"And that's our cue to leave the family reunion." Kyra stated, swinging her wooden bow and quiver over her shoulder, and moving net to Sora's group. Finally waking up, Rusty yawned and stretched before playfully following Kyra. "Where are the others?"

**PrismRain13: I just had to add the bit with Lightning and Snow at the end.**

**Kyra: hey, by the way thanks for having that creep beat me up last chapter!**

**PrismRain13: it was necessary *kitty eyes* please don't hurt me! Remember to review and stay tuned for the next chapter! Where'd Even disappear to? What's Xehanort planning? And we'll be seeing a familiar face from the prequel fic, _Another Side Another Story_.**

**-Jared Reese; thank you for sticking around! It really means a lot! A crossover would be a cool idea.**


	40. The Fury of Broken Hearts

**PrismRain13: so I figured I owed you guys a long chapter after not updating in a really long time. School, Halloween and my boyfriend really kept me busy. Plus I just got a quotev account. I haven't done much with it yet except help my friend write a KH story,**

**Myde: yeah well great to see you back!**

**PrismRain13: aww, thanks Myde! Anyway, in this chapter we'll meet another of my OC's from my other fic; _Another Side, Another Story_. If you haven't read it yet, go check it out! Plus we'll get a backstory for Lea. **

**Myde: Prism owns nothing! Other than the plot and her OC's!**

**_Chapter 39: The Fury of Broken Hearts_**

Kairi, Mickey, Goofy, Donald and Max ran through Radiant Garden's streets, panting for breath as they tried to keep up with the energetic ninja.

"Come on, slowpokes!" Yuffie stated. "You wanna eat, right?" After a few more minutes, Yuffie stopped in front of an open restaurant with a light purple canopy. Small, comfortable-looking, wooden tables and chairs lay peacefully underneath, decorated by brightly glowing candles.

As Mickey glanced inside the restaurant, he noticed a familiar-looking waitress leaned up against a pillar, filing her nails. She looked to be in her mid-twenties and had long, curly brown hair reaching halfway down her back, green eyes, golden hoop earrings and a small, black star-shaped tattoo under her left eye.

Her attire included a bright red skirt that was long in the back and short at the front revealing bare legs and knee-high shiny black boots. She also had on a lacey white shirt with short puffed sleeves hanging off her shoulders and a black corset. One arm was covered in a black ribbon and lace-decorated fingerless elbow-length glove and her other wrist had a few gold bracelets.

"Lydia?" The mouse king questioned. The woman looked up and her face burst into a giant smile at the sight of Mickey and bent down to hug him.

"Your majesty!" She exclaimed in a thick English accent. "Long time no see!"

"Yeah, sure has. How've you been?"

"Can't complain." Lydia shrugged. "Where's West? Aerith told me she was okay and was with your group."

"She went up to the castle to see Kyra with some of our other teammates."

"Guys, this is Lydia." Yuffie explained to the others. "She was part of the heartless resistance two years ago in Traverse Town."

"How come we never got ta meet ya?" Goofy asked as Mickey and Lydia separated.

"I saw you guys around." Lydia replied. "I was working at that restaurant in the first district; the one with the moogle candles."

"Oh yeah!" Exclaimed Donald. "You had a green dress on... And when Sora asked you what world you were from and you said it was none of our business."(1)

"Hey! It's a touchy subject for me!" She snarled, glaring daggers at the duck. Donald cringed in fear and gulped.

"So, Lydia. Do you live in Radiant Garden now?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah." She replied, leading the group into the restaurant. "Better than my old world, I gotta tell ya." Lydia stopped in front of a table near the entrance big enough for them and their missing teammates. "Just make yourselves comfy and I'll go grab some menus for you darlings." Spinning around, Lydia walked to the back of the restaurant, disappearing through the kitchen doors.

"Wow. So, is Lydia always emotional about her past?" Max asked.

"Yup." Yuffie nodded. "In all the years I've known her, all I found out about her was that she's a gypsy, hates the leader of her home world with a burning passion and never wants to go back. She only ever opened up to one person and he broke her heart."

"It sounds like she has a right to be upset." Kairi stated. "I'm surprised she hasn't turned to the darkness yet."

"No, but she came close. There were even times she used dark spells or gave off the dark aura, but somehow she's always managed to pull back." At that moment, Sora, Riku, West, Lea, Kyra and Rusty strode into the restaurant and sat down.

"Finally! I'm starving!" Lea exclaimed, propping his legs up on the table. "Bout time we got a nice meal break!"

"After whatever that was back on Kuzco's world, I'll eat anything!" Max agreed.

"Where's Vincent?" Yuffie asked with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"He had to stay back at the castle to help prevent Lightning from ripping Snow to pieces." Replied Riku. "Hopefully this won't put a dent in the team."

"Come on, Lightning can't stay mad forever... Can she?" Sora asked.

"Clearly you've never gotten on her bad side before." Lea replied. "I still have the bruises from when I tried to hit on her and her sister back when we were kids."

"I'm hoping that wasn't at the same time." Kyra said, scratching Rusty behind the ears. Just then, Lydia stepped out of the kitchen with a stack of menus in her hands.

"Okay, darlings. So, we have lots to choose from today-" Lydia stopped in her tracks, dropping the menus and staring wide-eyed and mouth open at their table. The group spun around, confused. Until Lea stood up from his seat.

"Lydia?" The former nobody questioned.

"Axel?" She asked. Instantly, her look of shock was replaced by one of anger, just like what they'd seen Lightning do. The gypsy stormed over to Lea, raised her hand and violently slapped him right across the face. "You've got a lotta nerve showing your face after what you put me through!"

"What is it with you girls and hitting people?!" Lea exclaimed, tenderly touching his cheek. It hadn't even been a second before Lydia punched him in the gut, sending the red-head to his knees.

"I don't know what you think you're doing here, Axel. But stay away from me!" Lydia shouted, attracting the attention of other villagers. "Forget this, I'm done with you." And with that, Lydia angrily stormed off down the street.

"I'm going after Lyd. Maybe I can talk some sense into her." Kyra stated, she and Rusty jumping to their feet and heading down the path Lydia took.

"Hey! Wait up!" West exclaimed with both Yuffie and Mickey running after her.

Sora and Riku helped Lea to his feet, handing him a potion as the red-head tenderly cradled his chest. "Do I even want to know what happened here?" Riku asked.

"Let's just say the organization wasn't all that happened to me during nine years." Lea replied with a murmur.

"Really?" Kairi asked with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised. "Now this is a story I'd love to hear."

~*KHIII*~

After wandering through the town, Kyra, Rusty, West and Mickey finally spotted Lydia at the rebuilt Bailey. She was gazing out to where the Villain's Vale used to be, with an angry look in her toxic green eyes.

"Sorry." Lydia stated bitterly without even looking at the newcomers. "I just never thought I'd ever see that no good piece of scum again in my life."

"Lyd, exactly how do you know Lea?" West asked.

"Is that honestly why you came all the way over here?!" Snapped the gypsy, turning to face them. "Well, sorry to disappoint ya'll but I'm not in the mood for back stories!"

"You really need to trust people more." Mickey said. "If you keep all your pain bottled up then the darkness might take you. I've seen it happen." Lydia scoffed and released a small snarl.

"The king's right." Yuffie added. "You know you can trust us."

Running her fingers through her hair, Lydia took a deep breath. "It's not a pretty story."

"Yeah, I think we already figured that after you slapped him." Stated Kyra in a bored tone. "Seriously though, we've known you for years and you've never opened up to us! We don't even know where you came from."

The gypsy rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Fine. I grew up on a world called Alea Luedo with my parents. It was famous for its casinos. After my dad lost his job as a waiter, he started gambling. He got addicted to gambling, and we started to loose more money than we made. Eventually, my mother found out and left. I thought my father would give up gambling after she left, but I was wrong. This time though, he started winning, but he was cheating against some very sore losers. I confronted my father after he came home from the casino one night, but we were interrupted by the gamblers he had been playing against, but they had taken control over the heartless. Papa told me to run, as I watched the heartless consume his heart. I ran out of the house, being chased just as the world fell to darkness."

~*KHIII*~

"Okay, so you guys know that when this place fell to darkness I lost my heart, right?" Lea asked the group sitting around him, who all nodded their heads, eating food another waitress had brought them. "Well, after that me and Isa, now Saïx, woke up in Twilight Town. It wasn't long t'ill Xemnas found us."

"Then he brought you into the Organization." Goofy concluded.

"So, you knew Isa before the organization?" Sora asked.

Lea gave a short nod. "Yeah. Believe it or not, he used to be an okay guy. We were best friends. Anyway, Xemnas treated us like crap. I guess he thought he had to toughen us up, putting us through dangerous and sometimes life-threatening training. Xemnas seemed to put me, Saïx and Zexion through the worst of it. Still, Saïx just seemed to worship him for some reason. Soon, we started going on missions. Then after a few years, I started to accept the fact that I'd never get my heart back."

~*KHIII*~

"I found myself on this new world called Cité des Cloches. Not even five minutes later, I was arrested because they thought I was a gypsy."

"But you are a gypsy." West pointed out. Lydia shot her a death glare as the thief cringed.

"I wasn't at the time!" Snapped Lydia. "They didn't even listen to me! They arrested me because of how I dressed! Then, I met Judge Frollo. He looked at me like I was some kind of cockroach that had to be disposed of. But before they could lock me up, I was saved by a young gypsy named Esmarelda. She led me down to where the gypsies hid and lived. I told them my story and I was welcomed into the culture. Esmeralda became a sister to me, and this world became more of a home than my old world ever did. It wasn't even two years later when Cité des Cloches fell to darkness too. That's when I came to Traverse Town. I got a job as a waitress and joined the heartless resistance."

~*KHIII*~

"As the years dragged on, Saïx became more and more distant towards me, doing everything he could to meet Xemnas's demands. Not long after he was promoted as Xemnas's right-hand man. I never really got along with anyone else; not even when Demyx, Luxord, Marluxia and Larxene showed up. At least, until I met Lydia."

~*KHIII*~

"That was where I met Axel. I found him lying in the middle of the streets while I was walking around town. He was beaten and bruised after losing a battle with a giant heartless. So, I brought him back to my apartment so he could rest. When he woke up, and I saw his hypnotic, deep green eyes, I immediately fell in love with him. But I was afraid; afraid of getting attached to someone, only to loose them. Just like with my parents and Esmarelda. After he left Traverse Town, I thought I'd never see him again, but I was wrong."

~*KHIII*~

"Days later, I couldn't stop thinking about her. It was so weird, without a heart. So, I started going to see her every day I could. We had fun together, laughing at the stupidest things, playing cards and eating for free at the restaurant where she worked. She was the only person since Saïx I felt I could open up to. We shared stories about our pasts, comforting each other. It didn't matter that I was a nobody, Lydia still wanted to be with me. For awhile, everything was perfect until Larxene found out."

~*KHIII*~

"I thought he cared about me! But the very next day, he comes on my doorstep and tells me that I was the worst thing that ever happened to him; that he'd rather die then spend another second with me. After I gave him my open heart, he stomped on it and ripped it to shreds!" Lydia chocked on her words, on the verge of tears. Yuffie's heart ached at Lydia's story. The ninja walked up to the tearful gypsy and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Lyd, I'm sorry." Yuffie said sympathetically. "You should have told us you were in that much pain."

Lydia hastily wiped away her tears. "I don't need your pity. I've gotten along fine on my own." She responded bitterly. "So now you know. I just really hate Axel right now."

"Actually, he's called Lea now-" West started to say.

"Whatever!" Screamed Lydia, throwing her hands up in the air and wrenching away from Yuffie. "Axel, Lea whoever he is now, he's still the same selfish jerk who broke my heart!"

"Lydia, I know you have your issues with him, but Lea's on our team now." Mickey stated. "I'm afraid you're going to have to learn to put your differences aside and work together if we're ever going to defeat Xehanort and his followers."

Lydia simply huffed in annoyance, turning away to avoid eye contact with Mickey.

"You need to grow up, Lydia!" Kyra snapped. "So the guy hurt you two years ago, big deal! It's time to move on!"

"Big talk coming from someone who's still looking for her brothers and parents after eight years." Lydia responded bitterly. Kyra clenched her teeth and fists, using every fibre of her being to stop herself from attacking the gypsy.

Yuffie reacted immediately, throwing herself in between the two girls to prevent a fight from happening.

"Guys, cut it out!" The ninja exclaimed. "Lyd, I know what happened between you guys was rough, but I'm sure Lea has a good reason for why he said all those things. "

"Why don't you just go talk to him?" West asked. "You need to hear him out."

Lydia groaned. "Fine. I'll talk to the jerk, but that doesn't mean I'll forgive him."

~*KHIII*~

Back at the World that Never Was, a dark corridor opened in the middle of the castle hallway. Myde steeped out, nervously looking through the space in case anyone was around. Relieved that he found himself alone, Myde raised a hand to close the corridor, but paused when out the corner of his eye, he saw Braig and Isa looking down at him. Instead of his organization coat, Braig was now dressed in a black buckle-decorated leather jacket, zipped up with a dark red shirt underneath, black gloves, pants and boots with a dark indigo pocket strapped to his leg.

"Thought you'd be back earlier." Braig stated. "Run into some problems, did ya?"

"Yeah, but noting we couldn't handle!" Myde couldn't help but shake a little due to Isa's intimidating, icy cold glare. The Berserker crossed his arms, smirking devilishly.

"Really?" Isa asked with an eyebrow raised, striding closer and closer towards him. "Well, if that's the case, then would you mind explaining why our forces are short one god of death and why we don't have any keybearers in our clutches?!"

Myde was at a loss for words. How had they found out about the defeat at Olympus Coliseum already?

"The Organization has done so much for you, Myde. I believe doing a decent job at this mission would have been the least you could to repay us for years of tolerating your insolence." Isa's voice escalated as he kept moving towards him. Myde hastily backed up, colliding with the wall and staring at both Isa and Braig in fear.

"Hey, those guys are tough-"

"That's no excuse!" Isa snapped. "Ever since you joined the Organization all those years ago, you've been nothing but useless to us!"

"You said it, Scar-face!" Braig laughed, ignoring the glare Isa was giving him. "Seriously, what was Xemnas thinking when he brought you in?!"

"That he'd present us with some decent ability." A familiar voice echoed through the space. "Clearly, I was mistaken." A corridor of darkness suddenly appeared in front of them, causing Myde to jump. His eyes widened at the sight of the two emerged, as though they'd never been defeated at all.

"Xemnas?! Ansem?!" Braig exclaimed. "Welcome back! Where've you guys been?"

"The same as you; the place where destroyed nobodies await their hearts." Xemnas replied emotionlessly just as Maleficent strode up to them, followed by a shorter figure dressed the an organization coat.

"Ah, I see the Organization is almost back together again. How lovely." The witch smirked. The boy beside her pulled down his hood, revealing a teenager who looked like a younger version of Xemnas. Silver hair, amber eyes and dark skin. Ansem smirked towards the boy, crossing his arms.

"I take it you delivered our message to our opposition, Young Xehanort or do you prefer what your friends once called you, Xeha?" The heartless asked.

"I have no friends." Young Xehanort scoffed. "And yes, I delivered the message to one of their teammates bringing back new recruits."

"Excellent. Come now, we have much more to discuss." Xemnas said, leading the others through the halls, to a pair of white double doors to a meeting room. Braig opened the doors, allowing them inside. Myde was just about to step in, when Braig blocked his way in with his arm.

"Sorry, water-boy; senior members only. Go play with your guitar or something." And with that, Braig slammed the door and locked it.

"It's a _Sitar_." Myde mumbled under his breath.

_Give us a report, what is the movement of Sora and his allies? Who's with him?_ He heard Ansem's voice say through the doors.

_The usual, his 'friends'. And he has Lea and that annoying thief with him. Plus all of Radiant Garden and his old and new allies from various other worlds. _Isa replied.

_It appears they are making more progress than we are_. Xemnas said thoughtfully. _We will have to step up our progress, gain more forces._

_Yeah, speaking of which, boss man; why are we seriously still keeping water-boy around? _Braig asked in a bored tone. Myde tensed at the sound of his name. He's pretty useless, right?

_Forgive me, Lord Xemnas, Master Ansem. _Isa's voice spoke up. My instructions were to retrieve any Organization members and persuade them to join our case. Myde has been more unsuccessful than his nobody had been.

_I see. _Xemnas continued. _Well then, we cannot afford anyone in our ranks. I believe we should do what I have done when he first appeared; dispose of him. He is useless to us._

Myde stepped back, hands covering his mouth as he gasped. Without even a second thought, Myde ran down the white halls of the castle. The voices he overheard replayed over and over in his mind. Myde kept running until he reached the castle entrance, alone and unsure.

_I've gotta get off this world._ Myde thought. The former nobody held out his hand, thinking of any world he could go to escape. A corridor of darkness appeared in front of him. Without even looking back, Myde stepped through. Unaware of Maleficent watching him atop one of the balconies.

**Prism: oh, poor Myde. *huggles Myde***

**Myde: why do you always have to torture us?**

**Prism: *shrugs* it makes a good story. Anyway, see if you can guess who Lydia's dad is or what Axel said to Lydia. I really hope you guys like her!**

**Myde: see you guys next time!**

**(1) - in KH1, in Traverse Town's first district, there's a random girl you can talk to. I just made a character out of her.**


	41. A World Without Darkness

**PrismRain13: happy holidays everyone! I really wanted to get this out to you guys in time for Christmas, but my computer was being stupid and wouldn't let me in to my account :(**

**Pooh: I hope your holiday was merry and filled with honey! Just like mine was!**

**PrismRain13: Yeah, what's the holidays without honey?! I still own nothing!**

**_Chapter 40: A World Without Darkness_**

After leaving the restaurant, the group had decided to stay on Radiant Garden for a bit before heading back out on the Gummi Ship. Lea was wandering through the rebuilt streets of his old neighborhood, finally stopping in front of his old childhood house. It had been completely rebuilt from the heartless invasion and Maleficent's takeover. He knew another family already moved in, but it still made him happy to see the familiar red house he once called home.

"Your house was red, huh. Why am I not surprised?" Lea turned around to find Lydia walking over to him with her arms crossed. "I'm not happy about it; but the king convinced me to talk to you. So, let's hear it."

"What?" Lea asked in confusion.

"You know what I'm talking about, _Axel_." she retorted. "Why did you dump me?! And why did you say all those hurtful things to me?! Did I really mean nothing to you?!"

"Lyd, it's complicated-"

"Don't give me that crap! I want the truth and I want it now!" Lydia violently snapped, breathing heavily as seconds of silence seemed to drag on for them. Lea stared at her with wide eyes; he had almost forgotten how scary Lydia could get when she was angry. Lea sighed, rubbing the back of her neck and about to tell her.

"I.. I Never wanted to hurt you. But it was the only way." Lea explained. Lydia rolled her eyes as he continued. "After Larxene found out about us, she told Xemnas. He wanted to use your love-filled heart to start building Kingdom Hearts since we couldn't release hearts from the heartless without a keyblade. I wanted to leave the Organization so I could protect you, but your dad stopped me."

At that statement, Lydia's eyes widened in confusion and disbelief. "My dad? Axel, what are you talking about? He lost his heart to the heartless, I saw it happen!"

"Then he became a nobody; Durol became Luxord and joined the Organization."

"So, wait, you're telling me that my dad joined the Organization and stopped you from running off with me." Lydia stated, in a confused, aggravated tone. "Now why do I find that hard to believe?"

"I didn't believe you guys were related at first. But, he honestly didn't want Xemnas to hurt you. I said I'd do anything to make sure you stayed safe. Luxord knew that the Organization didn't want a broken heart; it wouldn't work. So, he asked me to break up with you. I didn't want to, but he told me that I had to say some cruel stuff to you or you wouldn't believe me."

Both remained silent as Lydia thought about what he had told her. The gypsy scoffed, thinking back to her father and how he had put gambling over his family. Her thoughts shifted to when she first met Axel, and the day he ripped her heart in half. Running her fingers through her hair, Lydia groaned. "Look, I still don't forgive you."

"I know; I didn't expect you to." Lea sighed. "All I wanted was you to hear me out." The red-haired former nobody turned away and started walking down the street. Back to the castle, leaving Lydia alone with a lot on her mind.

"Ugh! What's wrong with me?!" Lydia snarled to herself. "Yesterday I couldn't stand the thought of him. But now... Now I don't know what to think anymore."

~*KHIII*~

Sora and Kairi had chosen to spend their time exploring the restored Radiant Garden. He had taken her to see every place he knew about and they even discovered new additions to the world such as the Gummi Garage and Aerith's flower and medicine shop.

They were currently in the castle library, which looked much more welcoming an cleaner than it had been two years ago. The books and shelves had been freshly dusted, not a single broken wire was visible in the celing and new curtains hung around the giant windows.

"They really did a great job restoring this place." Kairi stated, looking around with excitement. "It looks even better than I remember."

"Well, that's the Restoration Committee for you." Sora smiled. "They always pull through the hardest times." Just then, out of the corner of his eye, Sora saw Merlin, Kim, her boyfriend Ron and Zell sitting at a table at the bottom of the stairs with stacks of books, reading through them. At least, Kim and Merlin were reading, Ron and Zell had fallen asleep with their heads resting on open books.

"Hey guys!" Kairi exclaimed, waving and walking over to them. Ron and Zell woke up, yawning.

"Ah, Sora, Kairi." Merlin smiled. "How have the two of you been getting along with your magic?"

"We're doing great, Merlin. Kairi's a natural; she picked up cure magic like it was nothing!" Sora stated while Kairi blushed. "So what are you guys doing?"

"We're trying to find clues on what Xehanort might be planning." Kim replied, looking up from her book. "Tron's searching his old computer so we thought we might look here."

"So far we're having lousy luck!" Ron stated, Rufus, his pet mole rat nodding in agreement on his shoulder. "KP, when can we have a naco break?!"

"Yeah I'm starving!" Zell whined.

"Guys, relax, we'll take a break soon." Kim stated, giving Ron a kiss on the cheek.

"Do you guys need any help?" Kairi asked.

"You and your team are doing enough out in the worlds; you deserve a break." Merlin stated, standing up and adjusting his glasses. "But actually, Sora. There's something I want you to see." Merlin began walking further into the library while Sora and Kairi followed him. Soon, they stopped in front of a beautifully decorated golden pedestal, holding a book with a glass case covering it. Sora stepped in front of it and his eyes widened in excitement at the sight of a familiar book with himself and a small yellow bear in a red shirt looking up at the stars on the cover.

"Pooh's book!" Sora exclaimed happily.

"Winnie the Pooh?" Kairi asked. "Is this the magic book you told me about?"

"That's right." Merlin nodded. "I created this case after the book's repairs were completed so Pooh and his friends inside would be safe. It prevents anyone dark from touching it or entering; including the heartless." Merlin waved his hand over the glass as it dissolved. He then picked up the book, handing it to Sora. "I thought you might want to visit that world before you leave again."

"Wow, Merlin. Thank you!" Sora smiled, but remembered he was supposed to be showing Kairi around. He looked towards her as she hugged him.

"It's okay, Sora. go visit your friends." Kairi said, giving him a pat on the shoulder and an encouraging smile when she let go. "I wanted to check out the rest of the library anyway."

"I'll be back soon." Replied Sora, handing the book to Merlin. The old wizard opened the book as it began to give off a warm golden glow. Sora dove into the pages without hesitation, a blinding golden glow appearing. Closing his eyes, he was ready to visit the Hundred Acre Wood again.

**_Hundred Acre Wood_**

When Sora opened his eyes again, he found himself standing on the familiar woodland path he knew lead to Pooh Bear's house. Sora smiled as he took in the peacefulness around him. No heartless, no fighting, just the Hundred Acre Wood and his friends.

It wasn't long before Pooh's house came into view. The happy yellow bear was sitting on a log in font of his doorstep, contentedly eating a jar of honey. Sora laughed behind his hand, remembering all the good times he spent in this world as he continued walking.

"Hey! Pooh Bear!" Sora smiled and waved. The stuffed bear looked up from his honey, eyes sparking with joy. Pooh set his jar down and wasted no time in running up to the spiky-haired teenager and hugging his legs, almost causing Sora to topple over.

"Sora!" Pooh exclaimed happily. "You came back!" Sora bent down and hugged the bear back, feeling the soft, warm fluff against his fingertips.

"Yeah, I thought I'd come back for a visit." The teenager said as they separated.

"Well I'm certainly glad you did." Pooh replied. "It's wonderful to see you again."

"So, how's everyone been?" Asked Sora, thinking about all of the rest of his friends in this world.

"Why don't you ask us yourself?" A familiar voice exclaimed. Before Sora knew it, he was knocked to the ground as someone bounced on top of him. He smiled as he recognized the enthusiastic, orange and black-stripped stuffed animal.

"Tigger!" Sora exclaimed, as Tigger bounced off and he pushing himself back up to his feet. When he looked up, he saw Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore, Owl, Gopher, Kanga and Roo all running up to greet him.

"Oh Sora!" Piglet smiled. "I'm so glad you're back! We all missed you so much!"

"Now I hope you've been eating your vegetables, Sora." Rabbit stated.

"Come on, Rabbit. You sound like my mom." Laughed Sora as the group of animals surrounded him. "I'm really happy to see you guys again!"

"Did you find your friends, Sora?" Kanga asked, Roo jumping out of her pouch.

Sora nodded. "Yeah, they're travelling around with me now. Maybe I could bring them to visit sometime." The group all nodded enthusiastically.

Eeyore sighed gloomily as he joined the group. "I bet you forgot all about me." Sora only smiled and ruffled his hair.

"No way! I could never forget about you, Eeyore! So, how've you guys been?"

"We've been stuferpendous!" Tigger exclaimed, bouncing around them.

"Oh! And we've got a new friend for you to meet!" Roo suddenly spoke up, bouncing over to a nearby bush and peering behind it. "Come on out, Lumpy! Come meet Sora! Don't be shy."

Slowly, a light purple elephant shyly emerged from the bush, trying to hide behind the tiny Roo. They both wandered over to the group as Sora stood up to his feet.

"Sora, this is Lumpy, he's a heffalump and our new friend." Roo smiled, as Lumpy shyly waved with his trunk. Sora held out his hand, Lumpy looking up at him curiously.

"It's nice to meet you, Lumpy." He said with his usual goofy grin. Lumpy stared up at him, then burst into a smile too as he shook Sora's hand with his trunk. "I'm Sora."

"Roo and everyone told me so much about you." Lumpy replied in an English accent. "They said you were really nice."

"Well, I'm always happy to make new friends." Replied Sora.

"Enough talkin' already!" Tigger exclaimed excitedly, bouncing in circles around the Keybearer. "Whatcha wanna do first, Sora?! You wanna go bouncin'?!"

"M-maybe we could go fly a kite." Piglet suggested timidly.

"Nonsene, Piglet. What Sora really needs is to relax in the garden" Said Rabbit.

"Why don't we go blow up more tunnels with dynamite, sssonny?" Gopher suggested.

"Perhaps you'd like to hear the tale of how my Great Uncle Waldo-" Owl began, but was interrupted by the sound of Pooh's tummy rumbing.

"Sora, do you think maybe we could stop for a small smackeral?" Pooh asked with a small smile. Sora immediately started laughing, playfully poking the bear's tummy.

"I think I know what we're doing first." Sora beamed, taking Pooh Bear's hand and walking down the path to his favorite honey tree, the rest of their friends following closely behind.

The Keyblade Master's worries and troubles seemed to fade away as he spent time in the Hundred Acre Wood. He had helped Pooh get some honey, luring away the bees while Pooh Bear flew up by holding on to a small blue ballon. Unfortunately, the bees weren't too happy with the bear and had chased the entire group back to Rabbit's house. Rabbit had insisted that Sora give gardening a try and they had to chase Tigger, Roo and Lumpy around, who were contently bouncing around the garden and unfortunately knocked Eeyore's house down again. Everyone pitched in putting it back together again.

Then, they had moved over to Tigger's bouncing area. Soon, everyone including Rabbit were happily bouncing around the clearing. After that, Kanga had invited everyone over to her house for some honey and cookies, which Sora had to admit, rivaled his mom's. Wile they ate, Owl told stories of his relatives. And both Pooh and Lumpy were scarfing down as much of the sticky honey as they could, so much that they'd run out again and went back to the honey tree together more.

By then, the weather had turned a little blustery, so it was a perfect opportunity to fly Piglet's new kite. Piglet rested on Sora's shoulders so he wouldn't fly away again. When the wind proved to be picking up too much, they all moved down to Gopher's tunnels, which Sora never got to see before. He was really impressed that Gopher had done such a good job on his own. They wandered the tunnels for awhile, until the wind stopped and finally resurfacing in Heffalump Hollow where Lumpy lived. There, Sora got to meet Lumpy's mother, who was really happy that Lumpy was making so many friends. They rode on Mama Heffalump until it started to get dark and rested on the Starry Hill.

Roo rested comfortably in Kanga's pouch while Lumpy was curled up beside his mother. The others were scattered around the hill, looking up at the stars. Sora rested on the warm, soft grass until Pooh came and sat beside the spiky-haired boy.

"Something wrong, Pooh?" Sora asked, sitting up.

"No. I was just thinking." The small bear replied. "You'll be leaving soon, right Sora?" At Pooh Bear's statement, everyone's ears perked up, and some faces frowned in disappointment.

Sora sighed, knowing Pooh Bear was right. "Yeah. I may have found my friends, but there's still some things I need to do." The hill was silent, until Pooh smiled up at him.

"Well that's okay. Because even though you're not here; I know I can see you whenever I want. In here." Pooh said, pointing to his heart. Sora smiled, remembering that was what he told Pooh a year ago when he didn't want him to leave. Both boy and bear embraced, the other residents of the Hundred Acre Wood surrounding them.

"I hope you'll come by and visit us again, Sora." Piglet said.

"Yeah, we had lots of fun with you today." Roo agreed.

"You gotta keep up your bouncin' skills if you wanna be as good as me someday." Added Tigger.

"Don't worry, I'll come by and visit again soon." Sora reassured them, jumping down from the hill and waiving goodbye. "See you guys later!"

"Goodbye Sora!" Pooh waved as Sora walked away. "We'll see you soon!" The young Keyblade Master smiled, sad to leave the warm environment of the hundred acre wood. But knowing that they'd be thinking of him just like he'd be thinking of them was enough to put him at ease. Sora closed his eyes as he was soon engulfed by a warm, golden glow.

~*KHIII*~

When Sora opened his eyes again, he was back in Radiant Garden's library. The sun still shone through the windows as though no time had passed at all. Kim, Ron, Rufus and Zell were still surrounded by a pile of books with Merlin standing closely beside them.

"Ah, well I see you took your time." The old wizard observed. "Did you have fun, Sora?"

"Yeah, how long was I gone?" Sora asked sheepishly, Merlin stepping behind him and carefully placing Pooh's book back in its case.

"About an hour." Kim replied. "We didn't find anything while you were gone."

"It really sucks!" Added Zell when Sora noticed Kairi on the top floor of the library, curled up in a soft, light green lounging chair and reading. Thanking Merlin for showing him Pooh's book, Sora climbed up the stairs, sitting in a matching chair beside Kairi.

"Hey, what are you reading?" Sora asked as Kairi looked up from her book and smiled at the sight of him.

"Just something Merlin gave to me while you were gone." She replied. "It's my Grandma's journal. Some of the pages are missing, but he thought I could find something in here they couldn't about Xehanort."

"Maybe the pages will turn up when we head out again." Sora suggested. "Did you find anything interesting?"

Kairi nodded. "Apparently she knew Xehanort when she was younger, because her younger sister was a Keybearer too."

"Are you serious?!" Sora exclaimed.

"Yes! Yoake, I think her name was, they studied under the same master. The journal's missing details about their visit to Radiant Garden, what happened to Yoake and what my Grandma thought about Xehanort, and it ends right before the heartless invasion. Merlin said that's because that's when she died; trying to protect me." Kairi's voice cracked as she released a small sob, a stray tear sliding down her cheek.

Sora didn't waste any time pulling her into a tight embrace. "Hey, it's okay. We're all here for you." He whispered in a comforting voice.

"I know that." Kairi replied, composing herself. "It's just a lot to take in right now; the Mark of Mastery, finding Lea and West, seeing so many different worlds and Xehanort coming back. I was nervous, about stowing away with you guys but after all this, I know it was a good decision."

"You're learning a lot." Sora pointed out. "Give yourself credit for that, and about Xehanort, with all of us working together I don't think we need to worry."

Kairi smiled, hugging him back and placing a small kiss on his cheek. "Sora, thank you."

"For what?" He asked a little nervously.

"For keeping your promise; you never changed."

"Hey! If you two lovebirds are done up there; the King says it's time to go!" Both Sora and Kairi looked over the railing to find that everyone had gone, leaving only Riku looking up at the with a playful smirk. The two teens quickly separated, their faces turning bright red. Riku laughed as his two friends walked down the stairs towards him, still blushing. "Come on guys, let's get going."

"You know that was the worst possible timing, Riku." Sora playfully punched him in the arm while the silver-haired Keyblade Master ruffled his friend's hair.

"Yeah, well, I know how much you want to get back in the field."

"I have to admit, I'm excited to get back out there." Kairi exclaimed excitedly, laughing at the two boys. "Maybe we'll get to see some more of the worlds you guys went to."

"You're adjusting." Riku smiled while they wandered the castle halls.

"I guess I just got sick of always being the damsel in distress." Shrugged Kairi. "That's why I wanted to come along so bad, I wanted to get stronger. And I think I succeeded."

"You sure did!" exclaimed Sora. At that moment, he noticed a familiar-looking charm peeking out of Kairi's black pouch, recognizing it as a summon charm. "Where'd you get that?" He asked curiously.

Pulling the charm out of her pocket, Kairi quickly explained. "I found it in a chest near the library." The charm was coloured various shades of pink and had an outline of a rat on the front. "The Mole Rat charm, I think it's called."

**PrismRain13: Hope this chapter makes up for updating late. Again, sorry guys. But hey, we've got why Lea and Lydia's relationship ended, a visit to the Hundred Acre Wood, some Sokai fluff, Sora, Riku and Kairi friendship...**

**Pooh: Oh bother, now I've gotten lost. What happened in this chapter again?**

**PrismRain13: silly old bear :) be sure to vote on my poll for what you'd like me to publish next, since I'm almost done with _Radiant Days, Hollow Nights_.**

**Pooh: Stop by and review! And have some hunny!**


	42. Distress Signal

**PrismRain13: hey guys! Long time no see!**

**Pence: great to have you back, Prism!**

**PrismRain13: glad to be back! I still own nothing other than the plot and my OCs West and Lydia. Kyra and Rusty belong to Mystery Girl and everything else belongs to Disney and/or Square.**

**Pence: enjoy the new chapter!**

**_Chapter 41: Distress Signal_**

West wandered around the castle, waiting for her team to fly off again. The perky thief was having a hard time keeping her all excitement contained, so she had decided to check on the progress on the realm of darkness portal machine.

She found Lewis, Phineas, Ferb, Gretchen, Wade and Ienzo in the room where Xehanort's computer was, knowing from Sora that was where Tron lived. Blueprints littered every visible floor space and failed prototypes were in pieces. Wade was on the computer talking with Tron, Phineas and Ferb were sorting through the old blueprints, Gretchen was gathering parts together and Lewis was drawing up some new plans. Ienzo stood against the wall, acting as a supervisor and didn't look too happy about it.

"Hey guys!" West smiled and waved cheerfully. "How's it going?"

"Not so great." Ienzo stated in a bored tone. "All the prototypes I've seen failed; at this rate no one's going to the realm of darkness."

"Hey! Quit being so negative; you're not a nobody anymore." Lewis exclaimed, looking up from his plans. "We need to stop focusing on what we did wrong and keep moving. We are getting closer."

West stared at Lewis in a mixture of shock and confusion. The Lewis she knew would have been devastated if one of his inventions failed. Now, he didn't even look upset because of all the failed prototypes. And, in his eyes she noticed not a trace of disappointment, but so much more hope than before.

Lewis noticed her staring, a little confused. "What?" He asked. The thief smiled and shrugged.

"What happened to you, Lewis?" West stated. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see you smiling. But still, you're so different now. What changed."

Smiling up at his sister-figure, Lewis explained. "Well, after I got my world back, I met a friend. He and his family showed me helped me understand that I needed to get out of the past. They really changed my life. Then, with them in mind, I got to show off my first real invention and get a family of my own."

"Are you saying you got adopted?!" West exclaimed excitedly. Lewis nodded happily. "Oh my god, Lewis! I'm so happy for you!" Before the young inventor knew it, West had bent down and pulled him into a sisterly hug which Lewis gladly returned. When the hug ended, West reached into the pouch around her waist. She pulled out a handful of stolen items from their enemies and handing it to Lewis.

"Almost forgot." West smiled sheepishly as Wade, Phineas, Ferb, Gretchen and Ienzo gathered around them. "I don't know how much of this stuff will be useful to you guys."

Wade peered into the handful, eyes widening at the sight of a large, aqua, snowflake-shaped gem with white sparkles in the centre. "Where did you get an Orichalcum+?" He asked. "The moogles in town said they're extremely rare!"

"I nicked it off Yzma while we were fighting her." West replied proudly.

"All this should really help move things along." Gretchen smiled. "TJ was right when he said you knew what you were doing."

"What can I say, this is what a thief does." She said with a smile. "Anyway, are there any other items I should keep an eye out for?"

"The Orichalcum+ will help a lot." Phineas stated, holding up . "If it's not too much trouble, a key item we need is a Yami crystal. They're extremely rare and are filled with dark energy. With our machine we should be able to amplify its power to create a stable dark corridor."

"Any other items you can find will help too." Ferb added.

Ienzo huffed. "That is, if you children can create one to work."

"I know you guys can do it! And I'll keep my eyes peeled." Smiled West. "Well, I gotta go; we're heading out again, I just wanted to see you guys before we left."

"Good luck West!" Lewis waved. "See you soon!" After waving back, West walked out of the room and strode down the halls. It wasn't long before she found another member of her team. Max was sitting on the staircase in a slouch while his skateboard rested on his lap.

"Hey Max." She greeted, standing beside him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He mumbled. Though, West wasn't buying it as she crouched down to his level.

"Max, come on. Something's bothering you. We're friends, right? You know you can talk to us about anything."

Max released a sigh, running his fingers through his hair. "It's my dad." He started to say. "Ever since we finished at Olympus Coliseum he's been avoiding me. He doesn't seem as happy or as... _Goofy_ as he usually is."

"Did you try talking to him?" Asked West.

"Not really; like I said, he's been avoiding me. What's going on with him?" West pulled the young dog into a hug as she tried to offer words of comfort.

"I don't know, Max. We'll just have to corner Goofy about this." she said, standing up and holding out her hand. "Come on, we'll get answers. Together." Smiling up at her and giving small nod, Max took her hand as they walked down the stairs.

It wasn't long before they reached the Gummi Garage. They spotted Goofy quietly playing with Rusty. It was so strange for him to be quiet it was scary. Kyra was talking with Lydia, who gave Lea dirty looks every chance she got.

Speaking of Lea, he and Donald were working on their magic together with Merlin. They could see Cid doing some last-minute tuning and oil change on their ship, Mickey helping him however he could. Lulu stood apart from Kim, Irvine, Zell and TJ, glaring at Riku as he walked inside with Sora and Kairi, talking and laughing together.

West rolled her eyes at Lulu's behaviour. She hadn't really changed. It seemed like the rest of the members of her family forgave and accepted Riku as part of their team except Lulu. What the heck was her problem. Before either West or Max could confront Lulu or Goofy, Mickey cleared his throat.

"Okay team! There are a lot of worlds out there that still need our help!" The mouse king announced. "It's going to be a lot of work to stop both Xehanort and Maleficent. So that's why Lydia, Kyra and Rusty agreed to come with us!"

"WHAT?!" Lea exclaimed, accidentally lighting Merlin's beard and Donald's tail on fire. Both mages panicked and screamed, until Lulu hit them both with a water spell. "You can't be serious!" He continued, turning to Lydia.

"Believe me, _Axel_," she spat. "I'm not happy about it either. But if it means you'll quit hanging around Radiant Garden, I'll help."

"Her advanced time and cursing magic and gambling combat style could prove useful." Merlin explained. "From what I've heard, her abilities rival Luxord himself."

"Don't talk about my father." Hissed Lydia.

"Wait, _he_ was your dad?!" Sora exclaimed, Donald and Goofy looking equally shocked. All three thinking about how big of a challenge the Organization's number ten had been. Surprised that they were related.

"Yeah, yeah, moving on!" She waved them off.

"How come you and Rusty are coming, Kyra?" West asked as Rusty jumped into Kyra's arms.

"Cid said my ship's in horrible condition after that hijacking." Explained Kyra. "I don't want to waste a minute of searching the worlds. And if I find Xehanort, he'll be sorry his lackey messed with me." Rusty barked and growled in agreement.

Sora didn't waste any time in climbing up the ramp to the Gummi Ship, pounding his fist in the air. "Well, what are we waiting for?! Come on, guys, the worlds don't save themselves!"

~*KHIII*~

Soon, the old team of nine, plus their three new members were all gathered back inside the Gummi Ship. With Sora at the controls, they were once again, flying through space. Riku sat down, thinking about the bone-chilling glare Lulu had given him just before they left when he and West were talking.

He still didn't get why the Mage still disliked him so much. Sure, he made some stupid mistakes back then, but things were different now. And, he and West were just long-lost friends. It wasn't like they were in love or anything, right? He just really missed her. Her laugh, her enthusiasm, the way she always supported him. Wait. Did he really think about her that way?

Max had tried to corner Goofy and talk to him on the ship, but the older dog still managed to avoid his son. He always slipped away down to the engine room, the cupboards or to the weapons controls. Eventually, Max had decided to leave it for awhile and resorted to staring out the window. West and Mickey had tried to offer support, but Max had become really grumpy and wanted to be alone, so they eventually decided to give him his space.

Lea was sprawled across a couch, snoring. As soon as he got on board, he had collapsed into slumber. Lydia spent the whole ride so far glaring at him and filing her nails. Donald was just relieved he couldn't set anything else on fire while Kairi cured his tail. Then, she moved on to read more of her Grandmother's journal.

Kyra was vigilant, holding her bow and arrows ready in case of another attack. Rusty was by her side, but had curled up for a nap.

A small beeb on the dashboard brought everyone out of their thoughts. It was coming from a small, flashing red button. Sora, who was piloting, pressed it and Twilight Town appeared on the video screen. Mickey walked up to him, and took one look at the world on the screen.

"Whelp. Looks like the folks back at Twilight Town need our help." The king stated. "We should get over there."

"What the heck is going on?" Lea asked with a yawn as he stretched. "Can't you see some of us are trying to get some beauty sleep?!"

"Believe me, sleeping's not going to help you any." Scoffed Lydia while Lea pouted.

"Cut it out, Lyd!" Snapped Kyra. "So, what is this, your majesty?"

"Before we left Twilight Town, I gave Pence a remote Chip and Dale designed. I told him to send out a signal to our Gummi ship if the heartless and nobodies became too big of a problem for them." Mickey explained.

"And, you didn't think to tell us about that?" Lea asked.

Mickey shrugged. "I didn't think it was that important. Plus, if Seifer or Hayner had it, they probably would never have used it, claiming they could handle anything on their own."

"Sounds like Twilight Town's our next stop." Kairi stated with a smile. "Awesome! Let's go, Sora!"

"Okay, fasten your seat belts, everyone!" Exclaimed Sora, the Gummi ship light speeding away back to Twilight Town.

~*KHIII*~

Myde stumbled out of his corridor of darkness, a massive amount of strain being lifted off his heart. It seemed the second he decided to leave Maleficent and Xehanort, his ability to create dark corridors suddenly started to grow weaker. It was a struggle to even create this one. He held out his hand to try and make another, but nothing happened.

The former nobody looked around the space he ended up, recognizing it as Twilight Town's woods. So, he managed to get away at least. Hopefully, it'll take them a few days to find him. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on Myde's side.

Before he knew it, he was surrounded by a giant army of Neoshadow heartless. Quickly, Myde summoned his Sitar as soon as the heartless started to attack him. A strum on the chords sent a blast of water towards a heartless, knocking it into a tree. He just barely recovered when another jumped out of the shadows towards him.

Grabbing the neck of his weapon, he slammed the Sitar into the heartless. It collided with two more, knocking them all off their feet as they disappeared. The rest of the heartless jumped towards him, one scratching his bare shoulder. He summoned his water clones to attack the remaining heartless, but were quickly destroyed. Myde jumped out of the way of another attack, finishing off the remaining heartless with another burst of water.

Myde managed to take the rest of the heartless out, panting from exhaustion."Man, I'm outta shape." He wheezed. He hadn't even taken a single step when he became surrounded again. The Neoshadow heartless charged towards him, Myde trying to shield himself with his Sitar.

A second later, every heartless was destroyed by sharp, deadly icicles appearing out of nowhere. Myde slowly emerged from behind his Sitar, eyes wide at the now empty but slightly colder woods.

"Honestly, how do you still manage to get into these situations, Demyx." A voice spoke from behind him. Myde turned around, to find a tall, familiar-looking older man with long blond hair and green eyes. He was dressed in a white lab coat with a blue handkerchief sticking out of the pocket, black pants and boots, a white high-collar shirt and a dark blue ruffled tie with a snowflake emblem on it. Strapped to his arm was a spiky, metallic blue shield.

"Vexen?!"

**Pence: Yes! I knew we'd see Twilight Town again! **

**PrismRain13: I told ya ;)**

**Pence: Yeah, but we didn't really believe you. Plus, I'm really glad Mickey trusted me enough to send out the Distress Signal.**

**PrismRain13: stay tuned for the next chapter! What's Vexen doing in Twilight Town? What's the threat that our heroes will need to face? And how will everyone react, seeing Myde?**

**Pence: Don't forget to review! Want to get some ice cream, Prism?**

**PrismRain13: heck yeah!**


	43. Mansion Memories

**Myde: hey guys! Myde we are with another chapter! Bet you guys are glad to see I'm okay!**

**PrismRain13: I'm really glad I got this chapter done! The gang's back in Twilight Town and we're ready to dive back into the action.**

**Myde: Prism owns nothing other than the plot and her OC's. Kyra and Rusty belong to Mysterygirl7Freak and Dragon belongs to Greymon Leader.**

**PrismRain13: Hope you like the chapter! Now I'm going to play more _Lightning Returns_. I LOVE THIS GAME!**

**_Chapter 42: Mansion Memories_**

The moment Sora's feet touched the sidewalk of Twilight Town's station plaza, he knew they had trouble. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw Nobodies of all kinds attacking the town and terrorizing its citizens. The entire Town was overrun with Dusks, Creepers, Assasins, Samurais and another breed Sora didn't recognize.

The Chemists were dressed in long, lab coat-like robes with a thick collar covering most of their faces and goggles on their heads. They had full brown pouches buckled on to their waists and tentacle-like arms.

The next second, his team all ran up beside him, eyes widening at the sight before them. "What the heck are all these nobodies doing here?!" Kyra demanded, drawing her bow.

"I have no idea, but now I know why Pence called." Mickey exclaimed, Star Seeker appearing in his hands and destroying a Dusk that was tried to attack him. "Come on, let's go!"

By then, the entire group held their respective weapons in their hands, ready for battle as the nobodies charged at them. Kairi ducked out of the way of an Assassin flying towards her. Then, she jumped up, hit it with her Keyblade, sending it flying towards Donald, who blasted it with a thunder spell. Goofy threw his shield at a group of Dusks, knocking them all backwards as Mickey finished them off with a clean swipe.

Max was having no problems in running over a few creepers with his skateboard. But, when a Samurai raised its swords against him, Kyra and Rusty jumped in front of it, Kyra burying an arrow in it's chest and Rusty summoning a blast of blizzard magic against it.

Riku and West were fighting against the new Chemists. They wouldn't move around much, but they would reach into the bags on their waists, pulling out handfuls of potion bottles and throw them at them. The explosions would cause a variety of reactions such as poison or confuse. While West distracted them by dodging their chemical explosions and stealing their items, that gave Riku the opening he needed to attack the Chemists.

Soon, Lea and Lydia found themselves standing back-to-back, surrounded by a circle of Assassins, looking just about ready to strike. "Come on, guys I used to be your boss!" Lea called to the nobodies, showing no signs if they were listening to him.

"Yeah, let me know if they show any mercy." Lydia retorted, pulling a tambourine from behind her back. She hit the top of it, the Assassins becoming instantly confused and started attacking each other. Lydia smirked at Lea as his chackrams burst into flames, throwing them at the remaining Assassins.

Meanwhile, Sora was easily taking care of a large group of Samurais. He had just finished defeating one when out of the corner of his eye he noticed a group of Dusks slither towards the road, away from the battlefield.

"Hey! Get back here!" Sora exclaimed, slaying another Samurai before running after the Dusks. The nobodies ignored him as they kept moving and Sora kept chasing them.

The next thing the Keyblade Master knew, he was standing in the middle of a Dusk-filled Sandlot, save for one human. It was a young man around eighteen years old with slightly spiked light brown hair. He was dressed in a black and green long-sleeved jacket, black fingerless gloves and pants, a grey shirt with a yellow dragon on it, green and yellow sneakers and a yellow belt with two loose straps.

He was surrounded by Dusks, bent over a worn-out struggle bat, he was panting heavily and severely bruised. Sora didn't even waste any time rushing to the stranger's side and slaying the Dusks with ease. The young man smiled at his small victory before raising his Keyblade and casting cure on the strange man.

Instantly, his wounds vanished as he stood to his feet. "Hey, you okay?" Sora asked as the stranger opened his brown eyes, groaned and stretched as he stood back up on his feet.

"Yeah. Thanks to you." He smiled warmly. "Guess I need more training."

"Sora!" A familiar voice exclaimed, Sora turned his head to find Pence running towards him, looking out of breath.

"Pence!" Sora waved as his Keyblade disappeared out of his hands. "What's going on, where's everyone?"

"Pence, you know this guy?" The older teen Sora saved asked, stepping forward.

"Oh yeah! This is Sora. He's the Keyblade master we told you about!" Pence quickly explained just as the rest of Sora's team strode into the Sandlot. Then, the older teen held out his hand towards Sora which he gladly shook.

"Wow. So you're the famous Sora." He said with genuine admiration in his voice. "The others have told me a lot about you."

"Uhh, who's this guy?" Lea asked in a bored tone while Lydia rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, I live in Twilight Town; my name's Dragon." He explained. "I'm the only student at the old dojo over on Market Street. But once I saw those white things attacking I had to help. But I guess I really wasn't that helpful; I couldn't even take out one before I got whooped."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Dragon." Mickey smiled, stepping beside Sora. "So, Pence, where's everybody else? Why'd you call us?"

"They're all over at the mansion; once these monsters showed up again we thought we could find some clues there but it's locked. Then, more of them showed up there and the a tracks have been getting worse; most people are too afraid to leave their homes. That is, except for Dragon here." Pence stated.

"Come on, Pence." Dragon shrugged, running his fingers through his hair. "You know I'm not that strong."

"Do you guys think one of the Organization's members could be hiding there?" Kairi asked the group.

Riku shrugged. "Whatever's in there doesn't want to be found. If it is the Organization, I'd say it's a safe bet."

"Okay let's go!" Exclaimed Donald. "Lead the way, Pence!" The team started to leave the Sandlot, but Dagon's voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Wait up! I'm coming too!" Dragon exclaimed. "This is my home too, I want to help protect it!" Sora smiled up at the older teen, happy that he wasn't letting his previous defeat get him down.

"Well, we can't say no to that." Sora said.

"That's Dragon for you; always willing to lend a hand!" Pence explained.

"Well, Dragon," Mickey said. "I have to warn you, I don't know what we might end up facing. Are you sure you'll be up for that."

"Yeah, of course I am." Dragon nodded without question.

Kairi ran ahead of the group, looking ready to fight. "What are we waiting for?! Come on, guys! The mansion's secrets aren't going to discover themselves!"

The rest of the group followed her, except for West who looked lost in her thoughts. Riku stopped walking to look back at his friend, stepping up to her side.

"West, are you okay?" The silver-haired teen asked.

"Hmm?" West asked, pulling out of her thoughts. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine, Riku just a little distracted."

Riku raised an eyebrow, still not buying it. "Come on, what's on your mind?"

"It's just... Is it just me or does Dragon seem a little familiar to you?" She asked.

"No, I've never seen him before today." He replied. "Why? Does he to you?"

"Just a feeling I have. I know I've never seen him before but I can't help but feel like I know him." West explained.

"Maybe you did." Said Riku while West looked at him with a confused expression. "Your missing memories. Maybe you knew someone who looks like him from your home world."

"Yeah, maybe." West mused as Riku took her hand, pulling her in the direction of the old mansion.

"Come on, we'll figure this out later. Right now we need to catch up with the others and help Twilight Town." Riku said. Neither one of them noticed the blushing cheeks on each other's faces as their hands remained intertwined.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, in front of the gates to the old mansion were Seifer's discipline committee, Hayner and Olette. Fuu and Rai had struggle bats in their hands, looking out for any nobodies or heartless that might attack them. Olette and Vivi had searched constantly for any other entrance to the mansion, but haven't been able to find anything. Seifer and Hayner, on the other hand were trying to climb over the mansion's metal gate.

"Boost me up higher, chicken-wuss I'm almost there!" Seifer said from up on Hayner's shoulders.

"I can't! You're way too heavy!" Grunted Hayner.

"Are you calling me fat?!" Seifer exclaimed.

"So what if I am?!" Hayner challenged with a smirk.

"Geez we leave you guys alone for a few days and you try to rip each other apart." Sora laughed as he and the rest of his team came into view.

"Looks like you guys have been busy." Lea remarked as Seifer jumped down from Hayner's shoulders.

"Hey! We were wondering when you guys would come back!" waved Olette while Hayner rubbed his shoulders.

Seifer scoffed in annoyance as his eyes rested on Dragon. "Great, why'd you bring the wimp here?"

"I'm right here, Seifer!" Dragon exclaimed. "And geez, just because I like to read doesn't make me a wimp!"

"Okay, personal issues aside, have you guys been able to find anything?" Kyra asked, stepping in between the two boys before anything happened.

Fuu shook her head. "Nothing."

"We can't even get in y'know." Rai added.

Riku stepped forward, Way to Dawn appearing in his hand. "I guess this is what Keyblades are for." pointing his weapon at the metal lock in the gate, a beam of light shot out inside the lock. A small click was heard as the lock falling to the ground.

"Show off." Huffed Seifer, crossing his arms.

"Me, Sora, Kairi, Riku and Lea will go inside to investigate, the rest of you should stay out here in case anything happens." Mickey said.

"Wait, come on, are you serious?!" Hayner exclaimed. "Why are you leaving us behind?! We wanna help too!"

"Hayner, whatever's inside that mansion is the reason your town's in dander. If we all go inside it'll be chaos. We need you guys to stay out here with the others while we try and find out what's going on." Explained Mickey, trying to calm Hayner down.

"Forget it, mouse." Scoffed Seifer, crossing his arms. "You're not pulling that kind of crap with me! I'm not sitting back on the sidelines."

"Me neither!" Hayner added. "I want to help protect Twilight Town!"

"Yeah! Count me in too!" Dragon added enthusiastically.

"It's so weird to see all three of them agreeing like this." Olette whispered to Pence who nodded in agreement.

Sora shrugged and rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess there's no arguing with them, your majesty."

"You're right, Sora." Mickey sighed in defeat. "Alright Seifer, Hayner, Dragon let's get going. The rest of you should stay out here and keep watch. If something serious or suspicious happens don't hesitate to let us know."

"You got it!" West exclaimed, pounding her fist excitedly into the air. "Good luck in there!"

The newly-formed group of eight nodded to their allies before making their way up to the mansion's front door. Sora stepped forward, grasping the old doorknob and allowed the door to swing open with an eerie creek. The inside of the mansion looked the same as Sora remembered; dimly lit from the sun creeping in from the curtains, furniture covered by old sheets and a great deal of dust coating almost every visible surface.

"Man, what a dump!" Groaned Seifer.

"Hey guys! I think I found something!" Kairi called, pointing to the floor. Sora and Riku rushed up beside her, finding two pairs of footprints in the dust; a high top and a dress shoe. "Someone was here, and recently too."

"Do you think they could still be here?" asked Dragon.

"We better take a look around." Mickey said. "Keep an eye out for anything unusual."

Immediately, Sora, Kairi, Lea and Hayner started to head upstairs while Mickey, Riku Seifer and Dragon looked around the main floor. Being back here brought back a lot of memories for Riku; Sora trapped in a coma while Naminé tried to reconnect his memories, trying to avoid the Organization, fighting Roxas and becoming Ansem.

But, as Riku thought back to that time, he realized there were some things he couldn't remember. It was like there were a lot more holes in his memories he never realized. He remembered going back to Destiny Islands with someone and himself and Naminé talking about someone, but he couldn't remember who it was.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, Sora and Kairi had wandered into the White Room. Naminé's old drawings still decorated the walls, completely untouched. Though, it looked like the white flowers on the table had died. Just then, Sora felt a little lighter as though something was leaving him. And that's exactly what happened to him and Kairi, two ghostly figures emerged out of them, stepping into the white room. They were easily recognized as Roxas and Naminé; Sora and Kairi's nobodies. Naminé was dressed in her usual plain white dress

"This place must bring back a lot of memories for you guys." Sora realized, not at all fazed by the sight of them.

"Yes." Naminé nodded sadly, "This was where I lived, for a while, working with Riku and DiZ."

"And where I rejoined with you, Sora." Added Roxas.

Sora remained quiet, allowing his thoughts to wander. Both Roxas and Naminé gave up their rights to have bodies by fusing with him and Kairi. It just wasn't fair. If it wasn't for him, Roxas would be free to live his own life.

He could see one of Roxas's memories. Him and Naminé sitting in this very room, talking about himself, and that Roxas was never meant to exist. Sora felt a guilty tug at his heart for his nobody.

"Sora?" Kairi asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Roxas and Naminé looked at him with worry.

"I'm okay." The Keyblade Master replied, turning to Roxas. "It's just, Roxas, do you... regret joining with me?"

The blond boy seemed a little surprised at his sonebody's question, but it was soon replaced with a smile. "No, never. Before, all I had was Axel and the Organization. Being in your heart, I finally feel like I belong somewhere."

Sora shook his head. "But it's not fair. You're sitting in my heart, watching me live out my life. Both you and Naminé, you deserve to have your own bodies your own hearts, your own lives just as much as anyone else!"

Roxas, Naminé and Kairi all seemed a little surprised at Sora's sudden outburst. But then, his nobody gave a warm smile.

"Sora." Roxas said. "Thank you. But I don't think there's much chance of us getting our own hearts."

"You guys don't need to worry about us." Added Naminé warmly.

At that moment, the door opened behind them as Lea and Hayner walked inside. Lea spotted the two nobodies, recognizing them instantly. Though, Hayner seemed confused.

When Roxas spotted his old friend, he couldn't help but smile. "Hi Axel, it's been awhile. Or, I guess it's Lea now."

"Yeah." Lea replied with a shrug. "You guys are looking good. How've you been?"

"Fine." Replied Naminé.

Hayner was looking at Roxas, confusion still plastered on his face. "Hey, um, this might sound a little crazy but, do I know you?"

"Kind of." Roxas replied with a smile. "In the other Twilight Town, I was friends with you, Pence and Olette. My name's Roxas."

"Wow." Hayner breathed, obviously having a bit of a hard time taking the concept in. "Man, I'm sorry. I feel kinda bad for not remembering you."

"Don't worry about it." Replied Roxas. "It's still nice to see you both again."

"Yeah. Glad to see you and Naminé are doing okay." Said Lea. "I really missed you guys."

Naminé smiled as she and Roxas started to fade. "Thank you, Lea."

"Bye, I hope to see you guys again soon," waved Roxas, just as the two nobodies faded away. Sora, Kairi, Lea and Hayner spent the next few moments staring at the space where Roxas and Naminé disappeared from.

"You know," Murmured Lea. "It's weird, but with everything that's been going on, I never thought about how much I missed them. Then, seeing them again, I just feel like... Like there's an empty hole. I guess I just really miss those days, back when the three of us would sit on the clock tower."

"Naminé was in the Organization?" Kairi asked.

Lea raised an eyebrow. "No, why?"

"You said 'the three of us.'" Sora explained.

"I did?" Lea asked. "Weird, I don't remember there being anyone there but me and Roxas, but still it feels like are a few holes in my memory."

At that moment, a loud crashing noise was heard. "What the heck was that?!" Exclaimed Hayner as the four of them rushed out of the white room. Riku, Mickey, Dragon and Seifer were still on the main floor, having had rummaged through the furniture and bookshelves.

"Did you guys hear that too?" Asked Sora.

Riku nodded. "Yeah, it sounded like it came from DiZ's old lab."

"Come on," Mickey said, pointing in the direction of the lab. "Sounds like we're not alone here."

The group of eight slowly made their way towards the lab entrance, two sets of voices becoming clearer and clearer as they got closer.

"Be careful with that! This is valuable research!" A voice exclaimed.

"Okay, okay! Geez, you don't need to get so cranky!" Sora gasped at the sound of the familiar voice, it belonged to someone he knew his friends faced at Olympus Coliseum.

Peeking inside through a crack in the doorway, Sora sure enough found Myde talking with a man he recognized from Jiminy's reports on the Organization. Though, Vexen may have gotten his heart back now. Could his somebody be the one Ienzo mentioned, Even?

"So what's this stuff used for anyway?" Myde asked, examining a bottle of silvery liquid.

"You'll find out soon enough." Assured Even. "Although, I believe it would be safe to assume that Sora and his team are curious too." Even then turned his head, looking directly to the crack in the door Sora was looking through. He stepped up to the door and opened it, letting the group inside. "Isn't that right?"

The group seemed a little startled at first that Even knew they were there, but that soon changed when Kairi stepped in front of the group.

"Myde? You're with Maleficent aren't you?" She asked. "Why are you here?"

"Not anymore I'm not!" Myde retorted. "Not after they said they were going to get rid of me! Soon as I heard that I ditched that place."

"It's true." Even added. "I found him cornered against an army of nobodies. With his combat skills lacking-"

"Hey!" Protested Myde.

"-they shouldn't have been attacking him if he was still aligned with them." Finished Even. "So, I saved him and brought him here."

"See?! I think you guys owe someone an apology." Myde said.

"Fine. Sorry." Grumbled Riku while Myde pouted.

"Okay," Sora said, crossing his arms and turning to Myde. "So, Ienzo said you left for unfinished business. What exactly did you need here and with Ansem the Wise's research notes?"

"I'm so glad you asked, Sora, considering that it involves yourself and the princess." Replied Ienzo, holding up two vials of the silvery liquid. "It's taken me a great deal of time, but I have finally developed a potion that will extract Roxas and Naminé from your bodies."

**PrismRain13: Le Gasp! You guys didn't see any of that coming, did ya?!**

**Myde: Nope, I didn't.**

**PrismRain13: Sorry to leave it there, guys but I really wanted to get this chapter out! Next time we'll find out if Sora and Kairi are willing to take the potion and if it'll work! Plus a special appearance by a certain nobody ;)**

**Myde: Read and review! We'll see you next time!**


	44. The Missing Pieces

**Even: here we are with yet another chapter! **

**PrismRain13: I had to power through an intense amount of writer's block for this, hopefully I gave you guys what you've been waiting for!**

**Even: Prism still owns nothing, now why don't we continue on with this story.**

**_Chapter 43: The Missing Pieces_**

All Sora could do was stare at Even after he told them about his potion. He really made something that could separate Roxas and Naminé? It sounded almost too good to be true. If they had their own bodies they could live their own lives. It was what he always wanted for them.

Riku took the potion bottle in his hand, examining the inside of the bottle. The silver liquid sloshed around, carrying the familiar scent of of nothingness and nobodies. It was unlike any potion he had ever encountered before.

"How do we know this isn't some trick?!" Demanded Hayner, his hands clenching into fists. "How do we know you're not working with this organization and trying to poison Sora and Kairi?!"

"I'm not the same heartless fool my nobody was." Replied Even, slightly offended. "Vexen had no heart and thus had no empathy. I do. This potion will do nothing more to Sora and Kairi other than extract their nobodies and solidify them."

"Okay, say we do drink this," said Kairi. "They'll only get bodies, right? What about hearts?"

Even sighed, "I don't know; I thought I could make artificial hearts for them using Ansem the Wise's notes, but all my attempts failed. Then I tried to add something that will allow them to grow their own hearts, but i have no idea if it'll work in that department."

"But why would you care?" Lea asked. "You've never shown that you cared before, so why now?"

"I suppose I just felt guilty." Even shrugged. "After I received my heart, I couldn't help but feel that there was something I could do."

Sora could only stare off in his own thoughts. Roxas and Naminé had said that they were happy, but Sora knew they really weren't. He knew that look they had in their eyes, he knew they wanted to be free from the shackles of his and Kairi's heart. And he could tell Lea missed his best friend, no matter what Sora wasn't a replacement for Roxas. He knew that. No one could replace them.

"I'll drink it." Sora said, taking the potion from Riku's hand.

"Wait, are you serious?" Dragon asked. "Are you sure that's even safe?"

"No. But I'm prepared to take that chance."

Immediately, Lea grabbed Sora's shoulders. "Are you nuts?!" The ex-nobody demanded. "You don't even know if this stuff works!"

"I'm doing what my heart thinks is right." Replied Sora. "I know you miss Roxas, I know you want your best friend back, so why would you want to stop me?" Slowly, Lea's grip on his shoulders loosened.

"Because you've become my friend too." Lea sighed. "And I don't want to risk losing you both."

Sora was genuinely surprised at what Lea had said. He never expected the Furry of Dancing Flames to ever be so open. Maybe, getting their hearts back had a bigger impact on them then he thought. Lea's sadness, Myde's fear and Even's guilt. Sora could only imagine what it felt like to have all those emotions back at once without having them for so long.

Lightly, Sora playfully punched Lea in the arm. "We'll be fine. It'll take a lot more than this to get rid of me and Roxas." Smiling his usual goofy grin, Lea seemed a little more reassured.

Kairi smiled at Sora before taking the second potion bottle from Myde. This was one of the many things she admired about Sora; he was always willing to put others before himself, even if he was risking himself.

"No one's going to be able to talk you out of this, right?" She asked. "Then I'll take a chance too."

"Wait, Kairi." Sora exclaimed. "You don't have to do this!"

"Yes I do!" The princess of heart argued, taking his hand in her own. "I want the same thing for Naminé! And I'm not letting you do this alone!"

Sora stood there, speechless. He never thought that Kairi would feel the same way about Naminé as he did for Roxas. Her blue eyes sparkled with determination, as Sora felt his cheeks turning a light safe of pink.

"Just so we're clear, I get his keyblade if he dies." Said Myde, which earned him a violent punch in the arm from Seifer and Myde released a whimper.

"Okay," Sora smiled. "On three, okay?"

Kairi nodded. "One, two... Three." Then, both Sora and Kairi gulped down the potion, the liquid sliding down their throats. It tasted bitter and slimy and had a bit of a gross aftertaste.

Nothing happened at first. But then, all of a sudden, Sora and Kairi collapsed to their knees, coughing and screaming violently. It felt as though a part of their hearts were being ripped away from them. Soon, the screaming and coughing intensified as though others were feeling the same pain as them. Quickly, their friends rushed to their sides, hoping with all their hearts that Sora and Kairi would be okay.

Then, in a split second the pain stopped. Sora was on his knees, panting and sweating intensely. He looked up and through his bangs, he gasped at the sight of Roxas and Naminé, sitting on the floor in front of him, looking just as exhausted as he was.

"Roxas?" Sora asked nervously, afraid that they were going to disappear at any moment. He reached out his hand to touch Roxas's shoulder, gasping when he felt that he was completely solid. He had none of the ghostly aura that he had before.

Roxas slowly lifted his head, groaning as he tenderly held his forehead. "Sora?" He asked with a small smile.

"Naminé?" Kairi asked while the blonde girl pushed herself up.

"Kairi?" Murmured Naminé, gazing down at her solid hands with such intensity, not quite believing that this was real.

Sora burst into a grin. He couldn't help it as he rushed over to Roxas and Naminé's side and pulled them both into a tight hug. Kairi followed after him, her smile even brighter.

"I can't believe it!" Sora exclaimed, full of happiness. "You guys are really here!"

"Roxas!" Lea shouted, nearly toppling the group over by joining in the hug. "Little buddy! You're back!"

"Lea," mumbled Naminé. "You guys are crushing us."

"Sorry." Kairi apologized as she, Sora and Lea separated from them. "This is just so amazing. I don't believe it! Even, thank you." Even only smiled genuinely, relieved that he had made a difference.

It was then that group realized that Roxas and Naminé weren't the only two new additions to the room. Laying beside DiZ's computer was a person dressed in an Organization coat. Slowly, as the person pushed up their body up, their hood fell to reveal a young girl with short black hair and bright blue eyes. Her face looked remarkably similar to Naminé and Kairi. She released a small groan and tenderly held her forehead in her gloved hand, closing her eyes.

Roxas, Lea, Naminé, Riku, Even and Myde all stared at her, as though they felt they knew her somehow, but couldn't place how. Standing up to his feet, Roxas slowly approached the girl, confusion written across his face.

"Hey, are you okay? Do I know you?" he asked. The girl looked up at him through dark bangs, eyes widening.

"R-Roxas?" the girl murmured in a voice that was familiar and foreign at the same time.

Roxas raised an eyebrow. "How do you know my name?" the nobody asked, reaching out his hand towards her. Tenderly, his fingertips touched her shoulder.

Then suddenly, a giant burst of energy surged through his new body. Roxas collapsed to his knees and held his head as strange, unfamiliar pictures swarmed his mind. The same thing happened to Lea, Naminé, Riku, Myde and Even. Throughout all their minds they saw the same black-haired girl that was in the lab before them during events that none of them had known ever happened.

Roxas could see himself in the Organization, the missing pieces of his memory. He was going on missions with her, letting her borrow his keyblade to collect hearts, sitting on the clock tower with Axel and sharing ice cream together.

"Xion." He realized with a small gasp. "It's really you?" She stumbled up to her feet, her hair falling into her eyes as she stared at Roxas. He smiled warmly, relieved that she was alright.

Roxas was about to reach out his other hand to touch her shoulder when she pushed him away, turned around and bolted up the stairs.

"Xion?! Xion wait!" Roxas exclaimed. He only took one step before he collapsed to his knees, screaming in pain and clutching his chest.

Without a second thought, Lea and Naminé rushed to his side.

"Roxas? Buddy, what's wrong?!" Lea gasped, shaking his friend's shoulders.

"Quickly, bring him up here!" Ordered Even, pointing to a small examination table in the corner of the room. Lea obeyed without question, grabbing the young nobody around the waist and housing him on to the table. Still squirming, small beads of sweat trickled down Roxas's face while pain still coursed through his new body. Without wasting any time, Even grabbed a scanner from DiZ's old computer. A blue light scanned Roxas as a large amount of data appeared on the screen.

"What's going on?!" Demanded Sora. "Is Roxas going to be okay? And who was that girl?"

Vexen waved his hand as he started examining the data on the screen, his fingertips dancing across the keyboard. "I'll be able to answer that in just a moment."

"Her name was Xion." Riku replied to Sora's question. "The Organization's number fourteen."

"But, I thought you said it was called Organization _thirteen_." said Hayner. "What were they doing with a fourteenth member?"

"She wasn't an official member." Replied Even, never looking away from the screen. "She made as a replica of Sora's memories during the year he was asleep. I should know, Xemnas had my nobody create her."

"They wanted to duplicate the power of the keyblade so they could complete Kingdom Hearts faster." Lea continued. "But, there were some complications. When Xion got stronger, Roxas got weaker. Like they were sharing strength. In the end, Xemnas tried to have Xion destroyed, but Roxas and Xion battled and Xion was defeated. Then, we just all forgot about her like she never existed."

Roxas released a small groan of pain from the examination table as Naminé gently stroked his hair. "But, I still don't understand why Xion suddenly appeared now or why Roxas is in so much pain." The blonde female nobody sighed.

Sora took a moment to digest what had been told to him. It all seemed so confusing, but it definitely sounded like something Xemnas would have done. It just made him so angry, to have Vexen create someone then make sure they were thrown away like they were nothing?!

"Oh dear." Even's worried voice said. "I think I discovered what ails Roxas."

"What? What's wrong?!" Demanded Dragon.

"Well, the potion did what it was supposed to for Kairi; extracting the spirit of her nobody from her heart and giving Naminé a physical being. But, if my hypothesis is correct; Xion did not die when Roxas defeated her in battle, rather, her spirit found her way to Sora's heart." Vexen explained. "And, because Sora had two nobodies inside him, the potion detected them both and tried to give them both bodies. But they both only got a half dose."

"So, what exactly does that mean?" Seifer asked. At that moment, Roxas released another scream as his body started to flicker and fade out. Everyone gasped in complete horror.

"Essentially, it means that." Even stated. "The same thing must be happening to Xion; We need to make another potion and give it to them quickly!"

"Okay, we need to get moving!" Stated Mickey. "We need to tell the others about this! Even, Riku, go talk to West and see if she managed to grab anything useful from the heartless and nobodies! Naminé, stay here and make sure Roxas doesn't get any weaker! The rest of us will search all of Twilight Town for Xion; we have no idea where she could be!"

"Actually, your majesty." Lea interrupted. "Searching all of Twilight Town won't be necessary. I have a pretty good idea where Xion went."

~*KHIII*~

Up on the Station's clock tower, Xion released heavy, labored breaths as she finally stopped running, her steps becoming stumbled and staggered. Finally, she collapsed to her knees just as her entire body started to fade and flicker. The female nobody looked out to the twilight sky.

"Roxas, Axel." She murmured to herself. "Seeing them again, I can't believe it. I just... Need some time to think, about what's going on."

"So sorry, Xion. But, I'm afraid that won't be possible." A familar, authoritative and dark voice echoed all around her. Xion gasped, turning around just to find a corridor of darkness appear. The person who stepped out was someone Xion never expected to see again.

"Xemnas." Xion whispered. "W-what are you doing here?"

The superior of the former Organization XIII glared down at her in as though he were looking at a cockroach.

"You don't have a right to know why I'm here, filthy puppet." He snarled just as his eternal blades appeared in his hands, slowly advancing towards the weak and helpless nobody.

**Even: You see, I told you all I'm not evil anymore!**

**PrismRain13: Glad to hear it, Even. Catch you guys later! Let me know what you thought of the chapter! Let's hope our heroes get to Xion before Xemnas can hurt her! HURRY UP YOU GUYS!**


	45. Return of the Superior

**PrismRain13: Hey guys! How's it going? Prism here with another chapter! Man, learning french in the summer is weird! So much homework!**

**Xemnas: Humph. She left us for far too long.**

**PrismRain13: Hey! I'm trying here! I still own nothing other than the plot and my OCs and probably never will :( **

**Xemnas: *sigh* Everything belongs to either Square Enix, Disney or both.**

**PrismRain13: Oh, and the very awesome Dark Maiden95 wrote me an amazing one shot about my Kingdom Hearts Next Generation OCs Avalon and Tenebrae. Go check it out and give this amazing author a review!**

**_Chapter 44: Return of the Superior_**

Luckily, it didn't take Sora long to explain the situation to the rest of his team and they seemed to understand the urgency in their expressions and voices. He told them everything about Even and Myde not being evil anymore, the return of a Roxas, Naminé and Xion and the important task at hand.

"Alright, we need to move quickly to find Xion." Sora finished. "Lea said he has a good idea on where she might be so me, Mickey, Kyra, Rusty and Kairi will go with him."

Mickey stepped forward to address the other members of the team. "West, Donald, Max, I want you three to stay with Even, Naminé and Myde in the lab and help them out as much as you can with the potion and Roxas. Lydia, Riku and Goofy guard the mansion; make sure no nobodies or heartless get in."

"You got it, your majesty!" Goofy saluted.

Mickey turned to Olette, Pence, Rai, Fuu, Vivi, Dragon, Seifer and Hayner. "The rest of you, can you search the rest of Twilight Town for any sign of Xion just in case Lea's wrong about where she is?"

While the majority of the Twilight Town group seemed ready to take on the job they were given, Hayner and Dragon looked disappointed and Seifer looked extremely ticked off.

"I don't think so, mouse!" Seifer huffed. "I'm not wandering aimlessly around this stupid town!"

"Me neither!" Hayner agreed. "I want to help you guys!"

"Same here!" Added Dragon. "I can't just wander around when I know you might be in trouble."

"Face it." Continued Seifer. "You're going to need all the help you can get."

"He's got a point." Lea said to Mickey. "There's a bigger chance we'll run into more heartless and nobodies if we're on Xion's trail. We could use more help."

Mickey thought it over for a moment until he finally came to a decision. "Alright, but if the three of you are coming, you'll need better weapons than struggle bats." The king turned to Donald. "Do your stuff, Donald!"

Without hesitation, the duck wizard raised his staff and waved it around. His staff began to glow as three new weapons appeared above him and flew into Hayner, Seifer and Dragon's hands.

Hayner was given an orange, curved blade with a dark green handle and hilt and a round red crystal on the top. The Twilight Blade.

In Seifer's hands was a gunblade similar to the once Sora had seen Squall use. Only this one looked slightly deadlier and was made of a darker, almost black, metal. Hyperion.

Lastly, Dragon received a long and thin samurai sword. the blade was a light silver and the hilt was black with a yellow handle. Steel Slayer.

"Alright! Now this is more like it!" Seifer smirked, swinging his new weapon around.

"You can brag about your new weapon later." Kyra said. "Right now we need to get moving!"

"Right!" Sora agreed. Kingdom Key appearing in his hands as he and Mickey led their new team back to town. "Where to, Lea?"

"The Station Clock Tower." The former nobody replied, thinking back to happier times spent there.

~*KHIII*~

Lea's suspicions were soon proven correct; no matter which way they turned the entire group had been swamped by heartless and nobodies of all shapes and sizes.

Hayner, Dragon and Seifer were quickly learning how to handle their new weapons, being able to get rid of a fair amount of heartless. Kyra acted as their support, using her arrows to eliminate oncoming enemies with extreme precision.

Kairi was their main healer at the moment, and she clearly had her work cut out for her. Luckily, Rusty helped her out with a few cure and support spells, to which Kairi was grateful.

Sora used his Keyblade to help his allies in all ways imaginable. From healing spells to quickly killing off heartless and nobodies, he was all over the plac. trying to protect all his friends. Mickey used his own Keyblade in a similar fashion, but he had put more focus on using his light magic to get rid of a bunch of enemies at once.

Lea had taken the lead of the group, slashing and burning through heartless and nobodies and trying to move as quickly as possible through the streets.

He had no idea why he forgot about Xion, but the moment he remembered, enormous feelings of guilt had flooded his heart. He was responsible for breaking the friendship between them, he chose to stay instead of leaving with them. He screwed up, and now was the time to set things right.

Before long, they had made it to the Twilight Town Station. But, the sight of a familiar face on top of the clock tower made them all stop in their tracks.

"Xemnas?!" Mickey gasped. The former superior looked down at them with disgust. As Lea looked closer, he could see a familiar unconscious figure being held under his arm.

"Xion?!" He exclaimed. "What did you do to her?!" The former nobody raised his chackrams, preparing for a fight as he glared in anger.

"So I see you still care for the puppet, Axel." Scoffed Xemnas. Gracefully, the Superior jumped down in front of them with Xion still in tow. "I have to admit, I was quite surprised to learn that she returned to us. However, I'm afraid we can't have that."

"What the heck are you talking about?" Demanded Sora, not liking where this was going. "What are you even doing here?"

"Xion was never meant to exist in the first place. She was a mistake; I never should have ordered Vexen to create her." With a snarl on his lips, Xemnas held out his hand as one of his red Etheral Blades appeared in his hand. "I'm here to dispose of a worthless piece of trash!"

"DON'T YOU DARE!" Sora shouted, blocking Xemnas's glowing blade.

The surprise of the swift movement caused the Superior to drop Xion. Lea didn't waste any time in rushing up, grabbing Xion and cradling her limp body in his arms, pressing her close to his chest so he wouldn't loose her again.

Xemnas's expression changed to one of anger when he realized what had happened. "Insolent pests!" He snarled, summoning both Ethereal Blades to his hands. "First my beautiful Kingdom Hearts and now this. Why must you always insist on meddling in my affairs?!"

"Because you're hurting innocent people to get what you want!" Kairi retorted. "That's not something I'm too crazy about."

"As head of the Disciplinary Comitee, it's my job to protect my town!" Seifer smirked, pointing Hyperion in a threatening manner. "You've caused enough damage already. Now it's time to face your punishment."

"As much as I hate the guy, Seifer's right." Hayner agreed, getting into his battle stance. "I think it's time you left our town alone!"

"Yeah!" Nodded Dragon, nervously holding up Steel Slayer. "I may not be the best fighter around, but I'll do my best to protect this place."

Kyra only snarled dangerously, readying her bow and arrow. Rusty stood by her side, growing and ready to strike.

"So, what now, Xemnas?" Mickey asked, Star Seeker in his hand. "It's nine against one. Will you leave Twilight Town or will we have a fight on our hands?"

Xemnas raised an eyebrow at the King's question before he burst out laughing. "Your majesty, I believe you need to recalculate your odds." With a snap of his fingers, the group instantly became surrounded by at least thirty sorcerers and dusks.

"Looks like it's a fight!" Kyra growled, firing an arrow at a Sorcerer before it could attack Rusty who counter attacked with a powerful reflect spell. The battle was on.

Seifer and Hayner found themselves back-to-back as the Dusks lunged at them. Using Twilight Blade in a similar style to his struggle bat, Hayner released a powerful swing against a nobody.

"All right, no more playing around!" The teen exclaimed. Hayner moved quickly, slashing and kicking as many heartless as he could within a manner of seconds. "I'll show ya!" Hayner raised his sword in the air as it began to glow a warm sunset orange. When he knew he was at his maximum potential, Hayner charged towards the nobodies, and sliced through an entire group of Dusks. Leaving behind a ribbon of orange light. (1)

Kairi used her magic skills to their full advantage both on the offensive and the defensive. Cure spells were dispersed to her allies while she attacked with fire, blizzard and thunder magic. Mickey and Sora used their Keyblades by moving quickly around the battlefield, blocking as many attacks as they could.

"Kneel, loser!" Seifer raised his new gunblade, firing a blast of fire magic at a nearby group of Sorcerers. Then, he began spinning his gunblade around, focusing energy into it. "Isn't this ROMANTIC!" And then, in an upward slash-motion, he launched circular blades of energy at the nobodies, destroying them instantly. (2)

Lea was having a hard time fighting off the nobodies using only one chackram and trying to hold of to Xion's still lifeless body. As he fought against the nobodies, he saw Xemnas out of the corner of his eye. The Superior smirked with satisfaction before he started to walk away.

_No!_ Thought Lea angrily, _You're not getting away! You need to pay for everything you put us through!_ He turned his head in Mickey's direction. The mouse king had paused for a moment to catch his breath. "Mickey, protect Xion for me!"

Lea didn't say anything else as he left Xion beside the confused mouse king, her body slowly flickering away just like Roxas. He rushed towards his former superior as his second chackram appeared, Barely noticing Sora running beside him.

"Need a hand?" The young Keyblade Master asked. "And don't you dare say something cheesy like 'I can handle him on my own!'"

Lea only granted Sora a smile of confidence. "I thought you'd never ask." Both Lea and Sora stood in front of Xemnas as their opponent raised an eyebrow.

Xemnas smirked down at the two before him, releasing a condescending laugh. "You truly think the two of you stand any chance against me?"

"I beat you once, I can do it again!" Retorted Sora with full confidence.

"That was only because Riku saved you. If it weren't for him, I would have easily killed you." Xemnas scoffed, twirling his ethereal blades in his hands.

Without any hesitation, Lea and Sora dove into battle. Sora made a move to slash at The Nobody before him. But, Xemnas responded quickly, using one of his glowing blades to block Sora's keyblade. Thinking that Xemnas was distracted, Lea jumped up with his chackrams ready. Then at the last second, the superior pushed Sora down to the ground and swung his Ethereal blades in Lea's direction.

The two red blades slammed into Lea's chest as he collapsed to the ground. Sora quickly pushed himself back up, casting Firaga in Xemnas's direction. He effortlessly dodged the spell and rushed to attack. There wasn't even any time for Sora to blink before one of the Ethereal blades slammed into his chest. Sora gasped out in pain as he collapsed to his knees in pain. Then, Xemnas slammed his Ethereal blade into the back of his head, knocking him unconscious.

Not a second was spared before Xemnas attacked Lea. The redhead didn't have a chance to react as Xemnas rapidly spun his blades around, knocking Lea clean off his feet and down to the hard sidewalk.

"Sora! Lea!" Kairi screamed in fear just as another Dusk attacked her. The princess just barely managed to block the attack fro. The army of nobodies that seemed to grow every second. Mickey was even having a difficult time trying to protect the still Xion.

Lea tried to push himself back up to his feet, grunting in pain. But before he could, Xemnas stood over him, pointing one of his blades at Lea's throat.

"How pathetic." Huffed Xemnas. "You were such a valued member of the Organization, Axel. You had so much potential and you threw it all away for a puppet and a traitor!"

"They're my friends! Of course I'd choose them over your stupid Organization!" Lea snarled. "I'm not going to be used as a pawn any more!" Xemnas seemed a little shocked by Lea's sudden outburst, but it soon faded away.

"I see. It appears that I made a mistake in thinking you could be useful to us. A pity. Then, I will eliminate you!" Roared Xemnas. Lea closed his eyes, preparing for the worst.

But then, he heard the familiar sound of metal against metal. Lea looked up, finding the silhouette of a spiky-haired boy standing over him. He was blocking Xemnas's attack with...

_A Keyblade?! Sora?_ Lea thought. _No. Sora got knocked out. Then, who?_

"Sorry it took me so long, Axel." Lea gasped at the familiar voice as he finally saw who his saviour was. Someone who had been in excruciating pain the last time he saw him not even half an hour ago.

"Roxas?!" Gasped Lea.

"They finished the potion just in time." The blond quickly replied, shoving Xemnas away with his Keyblade. It had taken a different form with sharp, silver and black edges. The handle held a checker pattern and the hilt was round and black. The nobody crest was present at the bottom of the hilt and the keychain was Roxas's nobody thorn charm. Two Become One.

Roxas raised his Keyblade in the air, casting a strong cure spell on Sora. His somebody released a small groan as he pushed himself up, smiling at the sight of the blond.

"Roxas! You're okay!" Sora beamed. The blond only gave a short nod before he pulled out another bottle of the same silvery liquid that had brought them back.

"Kairi!" Roxas shouted, grabbing the princess of heart's attention. He tossed the bottle to her, Kairi catching it without any problem. "Quick! Give it to Xion!"

"You got it!" She responded, running straight through the battle of nobodies to where Mickey was protecting Xion's unconscious form. Kneeling down beside her, Kairi moved quickly to uncork the bottle and pour it's contents down Xion's throat, followed by a cure spell.

Now back on their feet and fully healed, Lea, Sora and Roxas stood before Xemnas, ready to continue their battle.

"Roxas." Xemnas turned his nose up at the former Organization member. "It has been a long time, traitor." All he received in response was a dark glare as Roxas pointed Two Become One at his former superior.

"You guys mind if I join in on the fight?" He asked Sora and Lea, who both smiled in response.

"Don't let me stop you." Sora replied.

"Just like old times, huh, Roxas?" Laughed Lea. Xemnas's eyes narrowed at the trio before him, his glare focused on Roxas. And then, he just started laughing.

"One more Keyblade won't help in a battle against me, you fools!"

"Then, how about another one?!" A feminine voice exclaimed, just as the four males turned around to find another had joined their battle. This time, it was someone they had seen limp and lifeless mere minutes ago, a Keyblade ready in her hands.

"Xion?!" Gasped Roxas with a smile that his friend gladly returned. Like Roxas, her Keyblade had also taken a different form. It was now silver and ivory-colored. The teeth were a pair of uneven, silver wings framing a broken, red heart. The hilt was decorated by two uneven wings decorate. The Keychain was a miniature version of the Keyblade's teeth. Lost Memory.

Mickey's eyes widened at the sight of the weapon. _That Keybade... Ven used it before. But, how?_

Just then, Even, Myde, Riku, West, Donald, Goofy, Max, Lydia, Naminé and the other residents of Twilight Town rushed up towards the station, shock written across theif faces at the sight of the growing population of nobodies.

Xemnas snarled at the sight of the reinforcements. He snapped his fingers, allowing a magical barrier to appear around him, Sora, Lea, Roxas and Xion.

"What's the matter, boss?" Smirked Lea. "You aren't loosing your edge, are ya?"

"I decided I rather not have anyone interfering while I dispose of the traitors and steal one of the Keyblade Masters." Huffed Xemnas. "I'll have to deal with Even and Myde once I'm done here."

"I don't think we're going anywhere!" Sora said, holding his Keyblade out in front of him.

"You got that right!" Xion agreed.

"Now it's time to pay for everything you've done!" Added Roxas.

Xemnas smirked and raised his blades once more. "I accept your challenge."

**PrismRain13: Thanks for reading and make sure to review!**

**Xemnas: Yes, yes. Now get back to your studies.**

**PrismRain13: But I don't wanna!**

**(1): Hayner's limit: _Sunset Arc_**

**(2): Seifer's limit: _No Mercy_**


	46. Strength of a Nobody

**PrismRain13: Hey guys! I'm back from Québec with a new chapter!**

**Dragon: and we're celebrating Reconnected's three year anniversary a few days late!**

**PrismRain13: yeah, I really wanted to get this out on the actual day, but I had to get back to work and unpack. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this extra-long chapter!**

**Dragon: Prism owns nothing other than the plot and her OC's and the Cosmos form. Except for me; I'm from Greymon Leader and Kyra and Rusty are from MysteryGirl7Freak.**

**_Chapter 45: Strength of a Nobody_**

Kairi fought against the nobodies and supported her friends just as much as her energy allowed her to. But the battle against the army of sorcerers was a lot for them to handle even with all the people fighting.

Rusty stood by Kyra and Dragon, defending them while they both took the offensive. Dragon, still not very experienced in real combat tried his hardest to land decent hits with Steel Slayer, but he wasn't having much luck. Kyra fired multiple arrows, getting rid of a Sorcerer before it could attack Dragon.

Goofy and Max had quickly gotten surrounded. Max's attacks weren't doing much against them. But, his dad moved rapidly around the battlefield, protecting Max from as many attacks as he could. It wasn't long before Mickey and Donald came to their rescue, getting rid of many Sorcerers with both physical and magical attacks.

Even though Lydia was overwhelmed, she still managed to stay calm while unleashed her time and gambling magic. Sometimes her attacks grew stronger, other times they got weaker. Seifer rushed to her aid, slicing through three Sorcerers. He winked at Lydia flirtatiously, but she only scoffed in annoyance and turned her attention back to the battle.

Hayner was getting the hang of real combat, but his attacks were still underdeveloped. Riku and West backed him up; Riku using his Keyblade for strong attacks and gravity spells while West threw her knife around and used items she had stolen.

Even and Myde used their weapons to defend Naminé, Olette, Pence, Vivi, Fuu and Rai. Myde complained nonstop since the battle started while Even just tried to ignore him.

Naminé nervously watched the battles progress in front of her. _I can't just stand here!_ She thought, _Not when everyone's out there fighting! I feel so useless. All I've ever been able to do was mess with people's memories. I just wish I could do more to help! I need to help them fight!_

Suddenly, Naminé was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of a familiar scream. Naminé looked up, gasping at the sight of a Sorcerer throwing Kairi against the brick wall of the station, her Keyblade flying out of her hands and she crumbling to her knees.

"Kairi!" Naminé exclaimed in fear, running right past Even and Myde without a second thought.

"Naminé?! Where are you going?!" Myde demanded, but she blocked out the sound of his voice. Naminé ignored the nobodies lunging at her; all that mattered right now was getting to Kairi's side. She didn't know how she'd be able to help, but she had to try.

A sorcerer raised it's arm to attack the defenseless Kairi, but at the last second, Naminé jumped in front of her and raised her arms in defense.

"Naminé?!" Kairi gasped. Just then, before the nobody could attack them, an almost blinding white light appeared around Naminé. Kairi moved her arm to shield her eyes until finally, the light faded away. Kairi slowly removed her arm, eyes widening at the sight before her;

In Naminé's hand was a pure white Keyblade. The it was fairly simple with a hilt that resembled the open memory pod Sora once slept in. The teeth of the blade was a small group of white roses and vines with angel wings on either side. And the keychain was a small yellow star charm connected by a silver chain. Recollection.

Naminé opened her own eyes, gasping at the sight of the weapon. "Woah! How did you get a Keyblade?" Kairi asked as she pushed herself back up and Destiny's Embrace reappeared in her hands.

"I-I have no idea." Naminé replied honestly. A Sorcerer appeared before them and raised it's arm to attack the girls. But, before it could, Lydia jumped in front of them and threw a pair of dice at the nobody. The dice exploded on impact, causing some damage and making the nobody temporarily immobile.

"Hey, you girls wanna put your keys to good use and give us a hand here?!" The gypsy exclaimed, jumping back into battle.

Naminé looked nervously between Recollection and the battle that was taking place in front of her. It was true, she wanted to help, but she was still so inexperienced on the battlefield. Kairi placed her hand on her nobody's shoulder, seeing the nervousness in her eyes as she looked at her.

"Don't worry." Kairi said with a smile. "We're all on your side. You don't need to be scared."

Naminé returned the smile, holding her new Keyblade in a battle-ready position. "You're right. This time, I'll fight too."

~*KHIII*~

With his Ethereal blades ready, Xemnas charged at his four opponents with an intense speed. He raised his blades in Xion's direction, ready to strike her down. But luckily, she jumped out of the way just in time and managed to preform a counterattack with her Keyblade.

Roxas followed her lead, running up beside her and raising his weapon just as Xion was about to attack again. Unfortunately, Xemnas had already recovered and blocked both Keyblades as he glared down at the two traitors. Lea saw an opening with Xemnas's back exposed and threw one of his chackrams at him. But Xemnas was too fast. In a swift movement, he pushed Roxas and Xion backwards and knocked the chackram away with one of his blades.

Sora quickly healed Roxas and Xion before charging at the Superior himself. Xemnas took the challenge with a smirk and raised his blades to attack. The Superior moved quickly, it was getting harder and harder for Sora to keep up with blocking and dodging attacks. When Lea finally recovered and jumped in to attack, Sora was lucky to only receive a few deep scratches. Roxas quickly healed him before rushing to Lea's aid alongside Xion. Fully recovered, Sora followed their lead.

Even with four people fighting against him all at once, Xemnas was able to block every attack thrown at him. He had taken very little damage the whole time they had been fighting, while his opponents were growing weak and tired and were running low on magic and items.

Sora thought desperately for any way to turn the battle around. Xemnas was so much stronger now than when he and Riku fought him a year ago. If he didn't do something soon, they'd all be toast. Just then, the teen remembered the new drive form he still hadn't used yet as an idea began to form in his mind.

"Lea! Roxas! Xion! Cover me!" Sora called to his allies.

"Right!" Nodded Roxas. He had no idea what his somebody was planning, but he knew he could trust him. Xion and Lea followed closely behind him and fought Xemnas with all the strength they had left.

Meanwhile, Sora placed his hand over his heart as he was surrounded by a blinding bright white glow. When it faded, Sora's clothing changed to white and gold with small angel wing patterns and out on his back was a pair of translucent white and gold-rimmed angel wings.

In his hands were two familiar Keyblades; Olympia and Hidden Dragon. And floating behind him were two new Keyblades from Kuzco's Empire and Olympus Coliseum. The first had a golden llama neck and head with sapphire eyes as the base and teeth, the handle was a potion bottle with pink liquid inside and the hilt was a gold palace-shape. The chain on the end was blue, connected to a keychain shaped like Kuzco's crown; Golden Llama. The second one was shaped like Lightning's gunblade with a pink crystal rose as the teeth, pink rose petals around the handle and as the chain and the keychain was the l'cie symbol; Focus Complete.

The Cosmos form gave off a golden, radiant glow as Sora readied his weapons. He flapped his new wings, rushing towards Xemnas at lightning speed while Lea, Roxas and Xion jumped out of the way. Xemnas didn't even have a chance to react as Sora attacked. Golden Llama and Focus Complete floated around his body, shielding him from every one of Xemnas's strikes while he swung around Olympia and Hidden Dragon. Then, Xion, Roxas and Lea jumped back into the battle, attacking Xemnas with all they had.

Xemnas was unable to deflect the attacks coming from all angles and he was finally taking a decent amount of damage. After multiple more attacks, Sora flew into the air and pointed all four of his Keyblades in Xemnas's direction and sent them all flying towards him. The blades slammed into Xemnas's chest, dealing the final blow.

Xemnas gasped in pain and collapsed to his knees, the barrier and the Sorcerer nobodies vanishing all at once. The teammates who had been fighting the nobodies sighed in relief, completely exhausted. Sora flew back down to the ground just as the Cosmos form wore off and his clothes and Keyblade returned to normal.

Roxas stood in front of his former Superior, pointing Two Become One threateningly at him and with a cold glare in his eyes. Xemnas looked up at him, the started laughing.

"So, you think just because you've defeated me once, that means you've won, does it?" He smirked as he found Myde and Even among the crowd. "Demyx, I see you really have chosen to leave us. No matter, you will not be missed. But, Vexen, I must say I'm disappointed you chose not to join us." Myde shook in fear while Even glared. Then, Xemnas stood back up as though the fight never even happened.

"How are you still standing after all that?!" Sora exclaimed.

"You should know that we don't go down easy, foolish boy." A similar voice echoed through the space. The group of heroes looked up to the clock tower as a corridor of darkness appeared.

Riku gasped in complete shock at the sight of who stepped out. Someone who put him through so much pain, caused him to forget his friends, took over his body and was someone he thought he'd never have to see again. A tall man with the same dark skin, white hair and yellow eyes as Xemnas, but with the heartless symbol resting on his chest and wearing a much more detailed outfit.

"Ansem?!"

The nobody chuckled in amusement before jumping off the clock tower, gracefully landing right beside his nobody. Both Riku and West tightened their grips on their weapons, the thief slightly shaking as Ansem looked at them with a smug look in his eyes.

"I see you've had some difficulty, Xemnas. How unfortunate." Ansem smirked, then turned to Riku and West. "It's been a long time, Riku."

"What are you doing here, Ansem?!" Demanded Riku. "How are you still alive?!"

"Is that any way to greet to your best friend?" Ansem asked smugly, holding out his hand towards Riku. "Come, Riku. I think it's time you return to the darkness. It is where you belong, after all."

Riku and all the others around him were speechless. He still couldn't believe that the Seeker of Darkness was standing in front of him and asking him to join the darkness again. He was frozen as his mind tried to process it all. How was Ansem still alive? And why did he suddenly want him to join them? Riku's thoughts were interrupted by Sora, Kairi and West stepping protectively in front of him with their weapons ready in case of another battle.

"Shut up!" Snapped Sora. "You don't have a right to call yourself that after what you put him through!"

"Riku's not part of the darkness anymore!" Kairi agreed.

"Yeah! We're not letting him go back there!" Added West.

Riku stood there in awe as he once again found himself amazed at the amount of support his friends were giving him. He had treated Sora like a dirty traitor and he still kept pushing forward to bring him back to the light. Kairi had lost her heart because of him and she never once blamed him. And West, she was forced to wander the realm of darkness alone for a year and a half because of him and she still came back smiling. Even after what he'd done in the past, they were all still by his side, treating him like a friend.

Ansem only chuckled darkly. "How cute. You fools still stand beside him. I suppose I should think nothing less of the pawns of light." Then, his eyes rested on West as his smirk grew. "Well, well. Look who's back. I certainly hope you and the princess haven't become too big of a burden." West and Kairi glared daggers at the heartless, their grips on their weapons increasing.

"Alright, that's enough, you two." A new voice spoke just as another corridor opened beside the heartless and the nobody. Young Xehanort stepped out, a smug look on his face.

"You!" Kyra snarled, Rusty growling beside her. "You were the one who attacked me on the Gummi ship!"

"Oh yes, I remember. I must admit, I'm impressed you can still walk after our little fight." He smirked. Kyra snarled in anger, using every fibre of her being to stop herself from attacking him. "Come on, boys. I think it's time we leave." Young Xehanort said as he opened another corridor beside them.

"Hey! We're not done here!" Sora exclaimed. "What are you people planning?!"

Xemnas snarled in annoyance. "Don't you know how to respect your elders, brat? And trust me when I say that your little quest is futile."

"What are you talking about?" Demanded Kairi.

"It's obvious isn't it, your majesty?" Young Xehanort turned to the glaring Mickey. "You remember what happened to them twelve years ago. You should know better than anyone that it's pointless to search for hearts that are already lost."

Mickey's expression softened as he felt a pang in his heart at the painful memories. Terra, Aqua, Ven. Even with the power of the Keyblade he was helpless to save them. Because of him, they were forced to suffer for twelve long years when he could do nothing to help them. _No._ Mickey thought, clenching his fist. _I can't think like this anymore. Not when there's finally hope!_

"It's true, I did fail them." Mickey responded, looking back up at Xemnas, Ansem and Young Xehanort. "But now's the time I make up for back then. Terra, Ven and Aqua are still out there, I know it! And we're going to free them and stop whatever it is you're planning!"

Young Xehanort only smirked. "In that case, I wish you luck. Until next time, heroes of light." And without another word, he strode into the corridor, followed closely by Ansem and Xemnas. The portal vanishing instantly.

A few moments after they were gone, Lea strode over beside Roxas, Naminé and Xion. "Well, I guess we waited long enough for introductions. Guys, I want you to meet Roxas, Naminé and Xion; my best friends." Lea smiled as he ruffled their hair, the three smiling up at him too.

~*KHIII*~

Soon after, Sora found himself sitting back in the middle of the old mansion with Riku, Donald, Goofy, Lea, Roxas, Seifer, Hayner, Pence, Dragon, Rusty and Kyra. After their enemies left, there weren't any heartless or nobodies left at all in Twilight Town. So, finally feeling safe to wander the streets, Olette had dragged Kairi, West, Naminé and Xion to go shopping with her. Lydia, Max, Rai, Fuu and Vivi had tagged along to find some lunch for everybody. Even and Mickey had dragged Myde down to the lab to collect the rest of Ansem the Wise's research.

Hayner and some of the others were curious about the three newcomers, so Roxas had taken up the task of explaining his story to them. He told the group everything from how he was born, the Organization and all the way up to his time living in the virtual Twilight Town. Seifer, Hayner and Pence all looked particularilly surprised at the last bit of his story.

"Wow." Hayner breathed. "So, we were friends in the old Twilight Town?"

Roxas nodded. "Yeah. You, me, Pence and Olette. We were inseparable. Sorry; It just felt so real to me." The blond looked down at his shoes, feeling a little weird talking to the real life versions of them.

Hayner only smiled and playfully punched Roxas's shoulder. "Well, you seem like a great person. I hope I can get to know you better."

"Yeah, Who knows, maybe we'll end up being just as good of friends as we were in the other Twilight Town."

Roxas returned the smile just as Lea pulled him into a headlock and gave him a noogie. "Great to have ya back, little buddy."

"Axel, cut it out!" Roxas laughed, trying to push the red-head away.

"It's Lea now!" He laughed in response, finally letting him go.

"That's going to take some getting used to!" The blond ex-nobody smiled while Seifer just rolled his eyes.

Sora, Riku, Donald and Goofy watched the group in front of them. Sora couldn't help but feel happy for his nobody; he was finally starting to live his own life and wasn't going to be seen as just a part of his heart anymore.

"You know," Riku said. "That was a great thing you did for Roxas. Why do you have to be so selfless all the time?"

Sora shrugged. "I just didn't think it was fair. And I couldn't just stand around when I knew there was something I could have done for him."

"I guess that's what makes ya such a great pal." Donald said.

"Come on, Donald. You're embarrassing me." Sora laughed.

"That's kinda what friends do to each other." Goofy said as Riku joined in on the laughter.

Dragon sat alone a little ways away from the two groups. the young man was still extremely confused as to what was going on. But, it looked like a lot of them had some catching up to do, so Dragon thought he should give them their space while he examined his new sword.

He was interrupted by Rusty slowly walking towards him and sniffing him. Dragon smiled at the curious-looking fox before gently petting him, Rusty looking as content as anyone could ever be."

"Wow, normally it takes him awhile before he's comfortable with people touching him. You must be something." Kyra said as she strode up to him and sat down beside him. There was an awkward silence between the two of them, until Dragon shyly spoke up.

"Hey, um, Kyra right? Can I ask you something?" Kyra nodded, gesturing for him to continue. "How come you're travelling around with everyone? I mean, those guys really didn't see anyone as a treat except the people who had those Kryblades."

Kyra sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Well, we all want to help stop Xehanort and help these lost people. But, I guess all of us have our own side reasons. For me, I'm looking for my missing brothers and parents. Lydia wants to forget her problems. And West, I guess she wants to help and regain her lost memories."

"The girl with pigtails?" Dragon asked, his interest suddenly increasing. "She lost her memories."

"Yeah, apparently ten years ago she appeared on Traverse Town with no memories, including her name, why?"

Dragon was just about to say something back, when the front door to the mansion opened. The large group that had gone out had returned with what looked like a large amount of shopping.

"Hi! We're back!" Kairi waved cheerfully, she was followed by Lydia and the rest of the Twilight Town gang, carrying bags of food from a burger place, a noodle shop and a burrito place. Naminé, West and Olette came in soon after with their own bags of shopping.

"Alright!" Lydia exclaimed as she and Vivi set the food out on a nearby table. "Who's hungry?"

"Man, I'm starving!" Lea said, standing to his feet.

"I wasn't talking to you, you pyro." Glared Lydia. Lea sighed in defeat while Roxas gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Relax, Axel-sorry, Lea. I got us desert." Xion smiled as she stepped into the mansion carrying another bag. Her Organization coat was gone and replaced with newly-bought clothing.

She was now wearing a white, v-neck sleeveless shirt with a purple trim and grey short shorts. Overtop was a black sleeveless jacket with an orange under layer and a checkered stripe over the chest. Around her hips was a checkered belt with a purple pouch with an orange X. Her shoes were an orange and black version of Kairi's shoes from two years ago. She also had an orange armband with a silver nobody thorn, black and purple fingerless gloves and a yellow and blue seashell necklace.

Xion reached into her plastic bag and pulled out a handful of familiar blue ice cream bars with a smile on her face.

"Sea-Salt Ice cream?!" Roxas exclaimed happily, standing up and practically running over to her. "I never thought I'd get to eat this again!"

"You and me both, man." Lea agreed as he and Roxas greedily reached into the bag, pulling out their own bars. Naminé timidly reached in and took one too.

"Eat as much as you want." Kairi said, grabbing a burrito. "The Sorcerers dropped a bunch of munny."

"And we got lots more potions too!" West smiled, holding up her own bag.

Then, Even, Myde and Mickey walked down the stairs, their arms full of boxes full of Ansem the Wise's old notes and equipment. Myde didn't waste any time in setting his box down and rushing over to the table full of food.

"Hey, what's with all the boxes?" Sora asked.

"I'm returning back to Radiant Garden." Even replied, rummaging through one of the boxes. "I've done what I've come here to do, it's time I go back and help the others."

"Well, thanks for everything, Even." Naminé smiled. "I know it wasn't easy to hide from Xehanort and make that potion."

"Don't thank me just yet." Even said, pulling out a small handheld scanner. "I need to do another scan of the three of you. Just to make sure everything's working."

Roxas, Naminé and Xion nodded, set their food down and stood in front of the scientist. Even charged the device and scanned the three of them one at a time with a blue light. Once he was done, Even looked at the results, his eyes widening.

"This can't be right. This is impossible." He stated, confused.

"What? What's wrong?!" Sora asked urgently.

Even looked up from the small screen, confusion written across his face. "They have hearts." The entire group gasped in shock. The three in question looking even more surprised than the rest.

"What?" Xion asked, placing a hand on her chest. "How's that possible?"

"I honestly have no idea." Even admitted. "It could be that the potion created artificial hearts, or they could be splitting the energy of Sora and Kairi's hearts. Or maybe...They already had hearts the whole time."

"But we couldn't have!" Replied Naminé. "I mean, we're nobodies."

"No, but it makes sense." Said Roxas. "We laughed together, I got angry at DiZ and I cried when Xion disappeared."

Sora swung an arm around Roxas's shoulder, a smile on his face. "Well, I guess I can't call you my nobody anymore."

"You'll think of something." Roxas laughed, playfully pushing Sora off him.

The group spent about an hour of eating the food the others bought, laughing and talking together. After, Even had gathered all the equipment and notes, said his goodbyes and departed on his Gummi Ship alone, back to Radiant Garden.

"Well, I think it's time we left too. We still have lots of work." Sora said as he stretched and turned to the Twilight Town natives.

"You guys better come visit us again soon." Hayner grinned.

Seifer huffed. "Yeah, I still need to beat you in a struggle tournament, spiky."

"You guys are gonna come with us, right?" Lea demanded the three ex-nobodies.

"You bet!" Roxas exclaimed excitedly, Xion nodding in agreement.

"Now that I have a Keyblade, I might as well use it." Stated Naminé. The team of world-travelers and the three new members were just about to leave when a familiar voice stopped them in their tracks.

"WAIT UP GUYS!" They turned around to find Myde bursting through the crowd and running towards them. He stooped in front of them, panting for air. "You're not going to seriously leave me here are ya?! What if Xemnas comes back?! I'll be dead meat!"

Sora raised an eyebrow at Myde's sudden outburst. Sure, he remembered his nobody was a lazy wimp but he never heard anyone sound so desperate before. He must really be scared of what their enemies were capable of.

"If you're gonna come, you can't slack off!" Donald quacked. "You gotta help us fight!"

"Aww..." Wined Myde, slumping in defeat. "But I hate fighting!"

"Fine. Say hi to Xemnas for us." Riku said, about to turn away.

"No! Wait! I can try to help." Myde responded, still unhappy with the fact that he'd have to fight.

"Hold on, I want to come too." Dragon requested shyly, stepping up beside Myde.

Kyra looked genuinely surprised at his request. "Really?" She asked. "But, what about Twilight Town? You really want to leave your home?"

"Well, actually this isn't my real home." Dragon admitted. "When I was eight I showed up here with no memories. The old man at the dojo was kind enough to let me stay with him and I guess I've grown attached to the town. But, I'very always been curious about my real home."

West's eyes widened after listening to his story. It was so similar to her own. How she'd shown up on Traverse Town, joining the heartless resistance but always being curious of her past. And even that curiosity driving her to leave with Riku and Maleficent.

The young thief wandered up beside Dragon and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You know what we're doing's not going to be easy, right? But, I get where you're coming from. Sometimes you just need to go out there and search for answers." She told him with a smile.

Dragon returned the smile at her words of encouragement. "Yeah, I know it's going to be hard, but I'm ready to see what's out there."

"Well then, it looks like we've got two new members." Mickey said. "Myde, Dragon, welcome to the team!"

"Alright!" Myde exclaimed. "Let's get going already!"

"We're going to miss you around here, Dragon." Pence said.

"I hope you find what you're looking for." Olette added.

"Yeah, me too." Dragon smiled and waved back at the Twilight Town gang before the new team left back on the Gummi ship to continue on their journey.

**Dragon: I hope you guys like the chapter! Stay tuned for more chapters and _The Dark Heart Rises _coming soon.**

**PrismRain13: and R.I.P Robin Williams. Hope you're still making people laugh wherever you are.**

**Guest - sorry it took me so long to reply to you :( I like the idea with Lydia, but I have another reason for them to go to the World That Never Was. Thanks for the amazing suggestions, though.**


	47. Peering into the Past

**PrismRain13: hey guys! I'm finally back after getting settled into college! Plus the writer's block and homework didn't help.**

**Pete: humph. Neither did watching/reading Attack on Titan.**

**PrismRain13: ITS AN AWESOME SHOW! Don't deny it! And don't diss my fav Anime! *sigh~* Levi... Eren... My loves... *Pete snaps fingers* TITANS?!**

**Pete: *groan* Prism still owns nothing. Just this story and her characters. **

**_Chapter 46: Peering into the Past_**

Hayner sat alone at the top of the clock tower, eating a bar of sea-salt ice cream, his new sword laying on the floor behind him. It had only been an hour since Sora's team left with their new recruits, and the blond felt no need to worry about them.

Dragon had always been a shy, awkward kid. Even though he was a few years older than them, Seifer could always bully him. He was always a loner, only wanting to stay off to the side and read it study. But, he was smart and he was brave. Sora's team could use his help, and it was a great opportunity for him to find his original world.

Myde on the other hand, Hayner could only wish them luck.

"Hey, what are you doing up here?" Hayner turned his head to find Olette stepping out onto the platform and sitting down beside him.

"Oh, Roxas said that all of us used to eat ice cream together up here in the other Twilight Town; I thought I'd check it out." The blond answered.

"I can see why; it's a great view." Olette stated, pulling out an ice cream bar for herself.

The two friends remained silent for a few moments, eating their ice cream until Hayner spoke up again. "So, where's Pence?" He asked.

"He went to help Vivi with his summer homework." Olette replied. "It looks like the bridge between us and Seifer's group is actually closing."

"Never thought that would ever happen." Admitted the blond.

"Yeah, I just hope Seifer doesn't get carried away with that new weapon of his."

"If he does, I'll kick his butt with this baby!" Hayner exclaimed, jumping to his feet, grabbing the Twilight Blade and pointing it up to the sky.

Olette giggled. "You're hilarious."

"You saying I can't take Seifer?" Hayner asked with a laugh.

"I'm saying I don't want you being reckless and getting hurt." Corrected Olette. "I was really worried about you guys during that battle."

Hayner looked down at her, truly surprised by her statement. All he had thought about was protecting his home and the people he cared about when he rushed into battle.

"I'm sorry." Hayner apologized, taking a seat next to her. "I didn't mean to worry you. I just, couldn't sit on the sidelines while they were fighting to protect our home. I couldn't loose you guys." _Especially you. _He thought. Olette placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a warm smile.

"I know." She said. "I felt the same way. I didn't want to loose anyone either." Hayner looked up into Olette's bright green eyes, his heart beating loudly in his ears. It was as though he was seeing her for the first time.

Just like Hayner, Olette could feel her heart flutter in her chest. Their faces inched closer and closer together. But before they could get any closer, they both instantly turned away, trying to hide their blushing faces.

"So, that was some battle, right?" Olette asked, trying to slow down her rapid heartbeat.

"Yep. Really intense " Hayner replied awkwardly, trying to focus on his ice cream instead of the girl beside him.

Neither of them noticed Pence, Seifer, Rai, Fuu and Vivi peeking out from behind the corner of the clock tower.

"Aww. They were so close!" Vivi whined in disappointment.

"And I really thought they'd get somewhere this time!" Pence pouted. (1)

Seifer smirked and held out his hand towards Rai. "I knew it. Pay up."

"This ain't fair, y'know!" Rai grumbled, handing Seifer

Fuu shook her head and groaned. "You're all acting so immature. You can't force or rush things like this. They'll all admit their feelings in their own time." The four boys almost jumped out of their skin as their jaws dropped; none of them knew Fuu could talk normally. (2)

~*KHIII*~

Maleficent stood in the Grey Area, looking out the giant window. She watched the heartless wander silently as she thought of their enemies.

Sora and all his friends posed a great threat to all hers and Xehanort's plans. Something had to be done soon. Their forces were quickly growing stronger and she was loosing her allies. And, she had a distinct feeling that Ansem and Xemnas weren't telling her everything about what they planned to do at the end. But for now, her best option was to go along with them; she couldn't risk loosing even more forces than she already had.

The witch heard quiet footsteps approaching her from behind. Turning her head, she smirked at the sight of Hope walking towards her.

"Well well." Maleficent said with a purr. "Look who's up and about. I see you're adjusting to the castle. Can I help you, Hope?"

The silver-haired boy nervously rubbed his arm, looking up at her. "Is it true; what everyone's saying about Myde? Did he really leave?"

"Ah yea, you and he were roommates, correct?" She mused. "Yes, I'm afraid it is true. Myde has left us and decided to join our enemies. But, not to worry. After all, you have your revenge to look forward to."

"When will I be able to?"

"Now, now dear boy. You must be patient."

Hope remained quiet as Maleficent stepped beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You remind me so much, not only of Riku, but of myself when I was your age." She told him. "I was so young and naïve back then, so trusting."

Pulling herself away from the young teen, Maleficent turned away from him and gazed out the window once more. "Go. Run along now, Hope." She said, just as a scowl appeared on her face.

Hope didn't say another word as he left the witch alone, her mind swirling with thoughts of her past. "I was a fool back then. Trusting the light cost me my wings. They will all pay for what happened to me!" She snarled, her grip on her staff tightening as she continued to gaze out the window at the heartless she commanded. (3)

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, Braig and Isa stood with Pete and Mortimer in another room of the castle, a corridor opening before them. Xemnas, Young Xehanort and Ansem emerged, all looking strongly irritated due to Xemnas's recent defeat.

"So, we heard you guys had some trouble with the little heroes." Smirked Mortimer, turning to Xemnas. "Guess you're not the high-and mighty leader everyone said you were."

"Yeah! What a bunch of big talk!" Pete agreed.

"They merely caught me off guard. I have been out of practice for a long time, after all." Xemnas replied, glaring daggers at Pete and Mortimer. "Perhaps when I've regained my strength, I'll give you both a demonstration of my true power." They both immediately stopped laughing at him and cringed in fear.

"Now then," Ansem said, turning to Braig and Isa. "What progress have you made here? Master Xehanort is expecting us to have twelve vessels ready upon his return. We currently only have the five of us, Master Xehanort himself, and Vanitas once we retrieve Ventus from Castle Oblivion."

Isa stepped forward. "You'll be happy to know, my lords, that both Braig and I have found suitable candidates."

As he stepped to the side, three familiar people came into view. The first was an older man with blue eyes, short bleach blonde hair and a goatee. One of his ears was filled with piercings. He was dressed in a black, high-collared tailcoat trimmed with silver, a white shirt with a white cravat, black pants and black dress shoes.

The next was a man with unusual thick, layered pink hair and baby blue eyes. His body was covered in a black turtleneck, fingerless gloves, pants and heeled dress shoes. A pink suit jacket covered his torso and multiple pink belts and a silver chain rested around his hips. He had a flamboyant, superior aura surrounding him.

The final newcomer was a woman with a sadistic smirk present on her lips and in her green eyes. Her short blonde hair had two "antennae" sticking out. Her jeans were white and tucked into black boots and a silver belt rested on her hips. She was also wearing a yellow tank top, black sleeveless jacket, black gloves and chocker and a gold thunderbolt necklace.

Xemnas easily recognized them, their nobodies had been members of the former Organization XIII; Luxord, Marluxia and Larxene. Or, since they had hearts now; Durol, Alarium and Relena.

"Well, well, this certainly is a surprise." Xemnas stated with a smirk. "Now, where were the three of you hiding?"

"I discovered Durol wandering the Fragment Crossing." Isa explained. "Braig found Relena and Alarium in Castle Oblivion while searching for the hidden room we believe Ventus to be hidden."

"And, I assume you were told about our plans?" Asked Xemnas.

Durol gave a nod as his eye color changed to the same poison yellow of the five before him. "Indeed. And, I've already made the decision to become a vessel for Master Xehanort. Consider me a renewed member."

"Excellent." Xemnas's smirk grew, then turned to the other two. "And, have the two of you thought about the offer?"

Alarium crossed his arms. "I always knew something was amiss with the way you ran the Organization, _Superior_. Now, we know why."

"But, I have to say, I'm surprised you want our help." Relena admitted. "Even after we planned to take over the Organization."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. We are ferociously outnumbered by Sora and his friends, even with the heartless and nobodies." Isa said, standing in front of Alarium and Relena. "So, what will it be? Will you join our cause?"

"What's in it for us?" Relena challenged after a moment's pause.

"How about, a place alongside us when we claim all the worlds. And, revenge against those who defeated you back at Castle Oblivion."

The pink-haired man looked to the woman beside him, who gave him a confident smirk of approval.

"We accept." Alarium replied, a determined look in his eyes. "Oh, and before I forget-" he reached into his jacket, pulling out a small vial of a dark, smoky substance. "We found this in one of the rooms in Castle Oblivion."

Xemnas strode up to him, took the vial out of his hands and examined it. "What is this?" The Superior questioned.

"I'm sure Axel informed you of the events that took place at Castle Oblivion; that Vexen created a replica of Riku. This is all that remains of that copy."

Suddenly gaining a large amount of interest, Ansem grabbed the vial from Xemnas. He peered inside with curiosity in his eyes. "Fascinating." He said. "This could very well be of use to us. It's clear the real Riku has no interest in coming back to our side, but perhaps his replica would be more willing."

"Oh yeah? And how are yeh guys plannin' on bringing him back?" Pete demanded. They had almost forgotten he and Mortimer were still there.

Huffing in annoyance, Ansem tossed the vial around in his hand.

"Well, Maleficent has a Vodoo man, a genius wannabe superhero, and two scientists working for her, I'll just have to ask them." Ansem said smugly. "In the meantime, you two useless idiots should try to stay out of our way."

Pete and Mortimer's jaws dropped, speechless.

Young Xehanort rolled his eyes, turning to Isa, Braig, Ansem, Xemnas, Durol, Alarium and Relena. "Anyway, I'll go back through time again and see what other forms of Xehanort I can gather; we still need more vessels. Do whatever you can here." In a flash of blue light, he vanished before their eyes.

Not long after he was gone, the others dispersed, leaving only Pete and Mortimer behind.

"The nerve of those guys!" Pete exclaimed, clenching his fists. "I'll show them who's useless!"

Mortimer smirked. "My thought exactly, Pete buddy. We gotta show them what we can do! We gotta take down that team by ourselves! And, I think I've got a plan."

"Ooh! Sounds like fun!" Pete grinned, rubbing his hands together. "What did ya have in mind?"

"Well, back at Disney Castle, there's this mirror..."

~*KHIII*~

Now, with a bunch more new members added to the team, the Gummi ship was insanely crowded. Lea, Roxas, Naminé and Xion had retreated to the engine room to catch up with each other.

They had spent some time alone together, before West, Riku, Sora and Kairi had wandered down to the same area.

"Wow. It's a lot less crowded down here." Sora stated with a laugh.

"I can't imagine it's very comfortable up there." Giggled Xion.

Kairi smiled, happy to see the four former nobodies reuniting. "It sure looks like you guys are adjusting."

Roxas nodded. "So, what are you guys doing down here?"

"Other than the fact we want to get away from Myde's Sitar playing, Kyra's grumpy attitude and Donald's temper; West has something she wants to ask you, Naminé." Riku said, Naminé looking at the freckle-faced girl with her ears open.

West nervously stepped in front of Naminé, fiddling with one of her pigtails. "Well, Riku told me that you can manipulate memories?"

"Yes, I can." Naminé nodded. "Anyone who's connected to Sora's heart, I can rearrange and look at their memories."

"Well, I don't remember anything before I was six years old. I was wondering, could you please try and help me remember?" The thief asked.

Naminé seemed slightly surprised at West's request before the witch gave a warm smile. "I'd be happy to help." Before the blonde knew it, West had pulled her into a tight, sisterly hug.

"Thanks, Naminé! You're the best!"

"Don't thank me yet. Let's get started." Both Naminé and West sat themselves down on the floor. The blonde pulled out her old sketchbook from the mansion and a colored crayon. Opening it, Naminé began to draw.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Uhh... Isn't she supposed to be working on West's memory?" He asked Riku.

"She is." The silver-haired teen replied. "I'm not sure exactly how it works, but she told me that as she looks into someone's memory she's drawing a new memory she wants to create in their mind or a real memory she's seeing." Riku explained. (4)

Suddenly, Naminé released a gasp of pain as she collapsed to the floor and dropped her sketchbook.

"Naminé!" Roxas exclaimed as he rushed to her side and helped her up. The others followed without any hesitation.

"What happened?!" West demanded. "Naminé, are you okay?!"

"I'm fine." She nodded, slowly regaining her strength while she leaned against Roxas's chest. "West, I'm sorry, but I couldn't see anything."

"Really? Nothing?" Lea asked in surprise. Xion looked equally shocked.

Naminé shook her head sadly. "I couldn't go any farther back than she already remembered; it was like there was a powerful magic blocking me."

"Hey, don't worry about it." West smiled at the former nobody. "You did your best. That's all that matters. There's no point in beating yourself up about it.""

"Thanks, West." Naminé managed a small smile at her words.

At that moment, Max had wandered down to the engine room, gaining the attention of everyone already there.

"Hey, the king wanted me to tell you we're going to be landing right away." The teenage dog announced.

"Awesome!" Kairi exclaimed. "Where?"

"Disney Castle." Max replied. "The King wanted to check up on our world and talk to Chip and Dale about another Gummi Ship since this one's getting really crowded."

"Are you sure the King and Donald don't just want to see Minnie and Daisy?" Sora asked in a teasing tone.

The entire engine room erupted into a fit of laughter as the group made their way back up to the crowded cockpit. Nothing remained in the room other than Naminé's previously discarded sketchbook. A small new drawing of a young pigtailed girl in a dark, dead-end alley present on the paper.

**PrismRain13: *watching Attack on Titan* No! Bad Titan! Don't eat that person! *Titan eats person* I SAID NOOOO!**

**Pete: *groan* Don't you have homework or something?**

**PrismRain13: already done. Thanks for reading and sticking with me after I left you guys for so long. And thanks so much for 399 REVIEWS! You guys are amazing! Let's break the 400 mark and leave some reviews! See you next time!**

**(1): Pence; world's biggest Haynette shipper**

**(2): Yes, Fuu can talk normally. Don't believe me? Go check out Final Fantasy 8.**

**(3): so, I'm kinda basing Maleficent's reasons for her evilness on the live action movie, minus the whole stupid-Stephen. You will discover the full story in _The Dark Heart Rises_!**

**(4): I have no idea how she really does this, so I guessed -_-**

**Guest(Aug 21); I'm glad you like my story, but there's no need to compare it to others**

**Gry18; yes, that world is going to happen soon! I'm excited to start it!**

**Guest(Sep 18); I've been thinking a lot about your idea and I think there's a strong chance I'll have that happen on one of the Disney worlds and Lea will get rescued right away. I just need to decide which one.**


	48. Dream Festival

**Minnie: Welcome everyone. I do hope everyone's having a good school year so far.**

**PrismRain13: I'm not! There's too much homework!**

**Minnie: well, try not to worry too much, dear. At least you finished this new chapter.**

**PrismRain13: Yep, that's an accomplishment, all right :) I still own nothing other than the plot and my OCs West and Lydia. Kyra and Rusty belong to MysteryGirl7Freak and Dragon belongs to Greymon Leader Batx flashpoint.**

**Minnie: enjoy!**

**_Chapter 47: Dream Festival_**

When the Gummi Ship touched down on Disney Castle, the occupants wasted no time in piling out of the crowded ship. Looking around, they found themselves inside the fully-automated, gear and machine coated Gummi Hangar.

Kairi, Riku, Roxas, Naminé, Xion, West, Lea, Myde, Dragon, Kyra, Rusty and Lydia looked absolutely amazed at the sight of the machines operating by themselves, excited to see the rest of the world. Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Max just looked happy to visit their home again at this point in their journey.

Sora glanced around the large room, recognizing it from his last visit to the castle when Maleficent had attacked the corner stone of light. He could definitely feel a more positive change in the atmosphere than when the heartless were attacking. Almost everything had Mickey's insignia on it.

Still, he knew this was where Chip and Dale usually were, but he couldn't see a single sign of the chipmunk brothers anywhere. And he couldn't hear anyone else nearby either, like the castle was deserted. Looking over to the control pannell where they usually worked, Sora found a large sign that read "closed until after the festival".

_Festival?_ Sora thought. _What festival? Is that why no one's around?_

"Wow, so this is Disney Castle, huh?" Riku asked, looking around the area in awe. The others all looked equally amazed at the new scenery.

"Yep. Feels good to see home. It sure fells like we've been gone a long time." Mickey nodded.

"King Mickey! Donald! Goofy! Max! You're all back!" A small, squeaky voice exclaimed. The group all spun around, finding Chip and Dale scampering down the stairs.

"We just saw your ship land from town." Chip stated.

"Guys, this is Chip and Dale." Max said to the people who had never met the chipmunk brothers before, "They run the Castle's Gummi Hangar and build a lot of the Gummi Ships."

"Wow." Dragon gasped in amazement of his first new world. "You guys made the ship? That's amazing!"

"Thanks!" Dale accepted the praise. "Our handiwork's nothing to laugh at."

"So, why weren't you guys here?" Donald asked, having not seen the sign.

Chip raised an eyebrow. "You guys don't know? Today's the Dream Festival!"

"The Dream Festival? That's today?" Mickey gasped. Donald, Goofy and Max all looked equally surprised that they forgot.

"What's the Dream Festival?" Kairi asked curiously.

"It's a festival we hold every year to celebrate the founding of Disney Town." Explained Mickey.

"It's a lot of fun." Stated Max. "The whole town and everyone in the castle get together."

"Yeah, and we missed it for the last two years because we were away." Goofy said sadly.

Silence flooded the Gimmi Hangar for a few moments, until an idea popped into Dale's head.

"Hey, since you guys are here anyway, why don't you guys stay for the festival?"

Chip nodded excitedly. "Yeah! It'll be awhile before a ship will be ready for you anyway. And you guys probably need some rest after all your hard work."

"Sweet! First new world and we get to relax at a festival!" Myde exclaimed with a big smile on his face. "I could get used to this job!"

Kyra rolled her eyes. "You better not."

"We'll get started on you're new ship right away!" Chip said.

"Yeah, and if we hurry we'll be able to see the fireworks tonight!" Dale added as he and his brother scampered off to get to work.

_**Disney Castle**_

Meanwhile, in the centre of Disney Town's decorated plaza, Queen Minnie watched as the town's citizens enjoyed the Dream Festival. Her subjects looked so happy. But, Minnie herself couldn't find it in herself to enjoy the festival, not when Mickey wasn't here. Just like the last two years, she was alone. Of course she knew the worlds needed Mickey, but she still missed him terribly. As she thought of him, her fingers unconsciously touched her wedding ring.

Just then, she was approached by Daisy and Pluto. "Hey, Min. How's it going?" The female duck asked.

"Oh, fine Daisy." Replied Minnie, sadness leaking into her voice.

Not believing her, Daisy raised an eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips."No, you're not."

"Yes I am-"

"Minnie, I know you." Interrupted Daisy. "You miss Mickey." Minnie didn't reply, confirming that Daisy was right. Pluto released a small wine, saying that he missed Mickey as well.

Minnie sighed in defeat. "How'd you guess?"

"Because I understand how you feel; I miss Donald too." Replied Daisy. "But, you know they still care about us. We need to have faith they'll come home again soon."

"How about today?" Minnie, Donald and Pluto all gasped in surprise. They recognized that voice.

The three of them all spun around to find none other than the large group of world travellers, Mickey at the lead.

"MICKEY! You're back!" Minnie exclaimed with a wide smile. Before the king knew it, she had rushed over to his side and pulled him into a tight hug. Barking happily, Pluto came up beside them and started licking Mickey's face.

"Minnie, Pluto, I missed you both so much!" Smiled Mickey, hugging them tightly as though they were going to slip away.

"When did you get here?" The Queen asked curiously.

"Just now." Replied Mickey. "Our team's getting a little too big, so had to get a second Gummi Ship. And when we found out the Dream Festival was happening we thought we'd stay. Plus, I really wanted to see you." A large blush spread to Mickey's cheeks as Minnie kissed him.

"Well, I'm really glad you did."

Meanwhile, Daisy had rushed over to Donald and nearly tackled him to the ground with a bone-crushing hug.

"Oh, Donald! I'm so glad to see you!" Daisy squealed in excitement. "I was so worried about you!"

"Happy to see ya too, Daisy." Donald smiled, hugging Daisy back.

"So, did you bring me anything?!" Demanded Daisy in excitement as she pulled away, remembering her boyfriend had promised to bring her a souvenir from his travels.

Donald gulped in embarasement; he hadn't. "Uhh... Yeah... I got you..." He stammered nervously as his hands moved behind his back.

Sensing Donald's distress, West pulled out a beautiful, shiny blue bracelet she stole from a heartless and quietly set it in the duck's hands. Feeling the bracelet in his hand, Donald pulled it out in front of him, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"You got this for me?!" Exclaimed Daisy, pulling the bracelet out of his hands. "Oh, Donald it's beautiful! Thank you!" She pulled him into another hug. West gave a small wink to the duck, Donald mouthing 'thank you'.

"Nice to see you again, your majesties." Said Sora, stepping forward and giving a small bow.

"It's wonderful to see you again, Sora." Minnie returned the smile once she, Mickey and Pluto separated from their group hug. "And, I see you've brought some new friends."

Quickly, Sora and the Disney Castle occupants introduced their teammates to Minnie, Daisy and Pluto. Of course, Kairi and Riku instantly recognized Pluto. Kairi had proceeded to give him an affectionate belly rub while Riku gave him a scratch behind the ears. It wasn't long before two other residents started to appear. They were people Sora didn't recognize.

One of them was a slender teenage dog with soft red hair. She was wearing a teal t-shirt, denim shorts and white ballet shoes.

The other was an overweight teenage cat dressed in a pink turtleneck, dark blue jacket, jeans, white gloves and white sneakers. Sora couldn't help but notice he looked slightly similar to Pete.

"Roxanne! PJ! Long time no see!" Max exclaimed, rushing up to them and pulling them both into a tight hug. Roxanne kissed him on the cheek and PJ playfully punched him in the shoulder when the hug ended.

"Who are they?" Asked Riku curiously.

"Roxanne's Maxie's girlfriend." Goofy explained. "And PJ's Pete's son."

"Pete's son?!" Sora gasped in shock. "Seriously? _He_ managed to reproduce?"

"I sure hope so, otherwise I wouldn't be here." PJ said.

Sora shifted in embarrassment, having not realized he said that out loud. "Wow, Sorry. I guess I was just surprised." The brunette apologized.

"It's okay." Reassured PJ with a warm smile. "I already know about all the bad stuff my dad did. I can't say I'm proud of him or anything but I'm hoping that one day the old man'll come to his senses."

"Wow. It's so hard to believe you guys are related." Said West. "I mean, you're actually a nice person!"

Soon, the conversation between them all was interrupted by Mickey clearing his throat. "Whelp, with that out of the way, I think it's time we start enjoying the festival!"

"Sweet!" Exclaimed Myde. "I'm gonna go find a nice soft spot and catch up on some Z's!" Without another word, the former nobody slinked off.

Gradually, everyone separated into smaller, separate groups in order to explore the Dream Festival. Max had planned to confront his dad about his earlier actions, but Goofy had disappeared.

"So, Max. What do you wanna do first?" Asked Roxanne.

"Uhh... actually guys, I need to talk to my dad about something." Max mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. "He's been acting wierd for awhile, and I want to ask him why." Roxanne and PJ glanced at each other before nodding their heads in understanding.

"No problem, buddy." Said PJ. "We'll catch up with you later."

"Don't worry about it, we understand." Added Roxanne.

Pulling his best friend and his girlfriend into another hug, Max smiled. "Thanks, guys. You're the best!" And with that, Max took off, ready to search the entire world if necessary.

~*KHIII*~

Lea, Roxas, Naminé and Xion didn't hesitate in rushing over to the large ice cream stand at the edge of the main plaza. Standing behind the stand, Roxas recognized Hewy, Dewy and Louie from Sora's memories. Scrooge McDuck stood off to the side with a brown and white cream bar shaped like a bear.

As soon as the group reached the stand, the four ducks looked up, happy to see customers.

"Well, hello there. I see you've noticed my nephew's humble little ice cream shop." Scrooge said. "Taking after their great uncle, they are. I'm so proud." The elderly duck sniffed as a stray tear fell down his cheek.

"Yep! We've got the best ice cream across all the worlds!" Hewy bragged.

"And we've got a whole bunch of different kinds of flavors!" Stated Dewy.

"We've even got some healthy choices!" Added Louie.

Roxas looked almost ecstatic. "Sweet! We'll take four sea-salt ice creams-"

"-actually, Roxas." Interrupted Xion. "Why don't we dry something else?"

"Yeah, they said they had lots of different flavors. We should try some different kinds." Agreed Naminé.

"What do you say, buddy?" Lea asked, ruffling Roxas's hair. "My treat."

Roxas thought about it for a few moments, before he finally nodded his head. "Okay, I guess I'll try 'Double Crunch'."

After the others ordered, the triplets started preparing the ice cream. Scrooge had even placed another order, picking the Spark Lemon instead of the Snow Bear like he had before.

Soon, their ice cream was ready. Roxas's Double Crunch was shaped like Mickey's head and was full of fruit with decorative chocolate keyblades all in a waffle cone. Lea had picked the Bueno Valcano which was a veggie ice cream shaped like a volcano. Naminé had chosen Royalberry, which was a raspberry cone shaped like Minnie. And Xion had chosen the Honeybunny; a bunny-shaped honey and apple ice cream cone. Scrooge's Spark Lemon was yellow and white in a lemon-shaped bowl.

Roxas nervously looked at his ice cream as the triplets passed out the rest of the orders. Picking up the spoon, he slowly took a small taste.

"Wow!" Roxas exclaimed. "This is really good!" He didn't hesitate in digging in. Xion, Naminé and Lea all appeared to really like their chosen flavors too.

The four friends and Scrooge enjoyed the rest of their ice cream, laughing together. Soon, Hewy, Dewy and Louie made their own ice creams and joined them.

~*KHIII*~

Kyra, Rusty, Dragon and Lydia had found themselves at the Raceway. The entire area was full of large cartoony and colurful buildings and a large racetrack.

Standing near the entrance of the racetrack was an old duck with a pair of glasses on his bill and tuffs of grey feathers on his head. He was dressed in a grey jacket, pink button-up shirt, black tie and red vest. Next to him were three unoccupied carts coloured green with a yellow dragon painted on its side, red with orange flames and purple with blue lightning bolts. The racetrack was empty too.

As soon as the duck saw the group of four approach him, he immediately broke into a wide, friendly grin.

"Well, hello 'dere!" He said in a thick accent as he rushed to shake everyone's hand(and even Rusty's paw). "Professor Ludwing Von Drake, Certified scientist, and all-around expert on brilliant things! I take it you kids want to try some Rumble Racing?!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"Rumble Racing?" Lydia raised an eyebrow. "Is that what the carts are for?"

"Oh-ho-ho, so I see you've noticed the Professor's brilliant work!" Von Drake laughed. "No more will we have to deal with those other cooky carts! My brilliant carts will make you go fifty percent faster! And 'dey even have cup holders!"

"Wow. You built these?" Dragon gasped in amazement, gazing at the green cart. "They look so cool!"

"Want to try it out in the next race, 'dere?" Asked the Professor.

"Can I really?" Gasped Dragon as the professor nodded. "Thank you, Professor." Dragon didn't hesitate in climbing into the green car and driving it up to the starting line.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Lydia exclaimed, jumping into the red cart and following Dragon up to the starting line. "I can't let you have all the fun! Kyra, you coming?"

The black-haired teenager rolled her eyes, having not moved from her spot. "I'm going to get some training done. Come on, Rusty, let's go." Kyra turned to leave, but she soon realized that Rusty was nowhere to be seen. "Uhh... Rusty? Where are you boy?"

When she looked up, Kyra was surprised at the sight of Rusty sitting happily in the last car. His tail was wagging and he looked eager to start the race.

"Are you serious?" Groaned Kyra. Rusty nodded his head in excitement.

"Come on, Kyra. If anyone needs to loosen up, it's you." Said Lydia.

Dragon nodded in agreement. "Yeah, besides its going to be awhile until we get another ship. We might as well take in the festival like the king said."

"Come on, have a little fun for once. Don't be such a downer." Lydia continued.

Finally deciding that there was no point in arguing, Kyra climbed into the car with Rusty. The fox barking in excitement. The three racers made their way over to the start line as the Professor ran in front of them holding two large racing flags. The second he dropped the flags, the racers took off, sending the Professor spinning to the sidelines.

~*KHIII*~

Sora, Riku, Kairi and West had wandered over to Fruitball Plaza. A large area surrounded by colorful buildings with a line dividing the court and a net on each side. And, standing there were three familiar faces Sora recognized from Timeless River. They weren't black and white anymore and they looked a little more up-to-date, but the spiky-haired teenager still recognized them.

There was a tall, thin cow with a bright green bow on her head. She was dressed in a red shirt with a frilly white collar, a long skirt that matched her bow, yellow heels and white gloves.

Next to her was a horse dressed in blue overalls, a red long-sleeved shirt, white gloves and yellow shoes. On his head was a brown hat and around his neck was a brown horse collar with a red bow.

Then, there was an overweight hen with brown and white feathers. The only clothing she had was a purple sun hat with a large pink feather.

"Clarabelle! Horace! Clara!" Sora called out to them. The three animals turned there faces around, smiling at the sight of the group.

"Hi there folks!" Horace waved. "You here to try a game of Fruitball?"

Sora's face fell; they didn't recognize him at all. "You... Don't know me?"

"Well of course we know you!" Exclaimed Clarabelle. Sora's face lit up right before the cow rushed over and shook his and Riku's hands excitedly. "You're Sora and Riku! The King's told us all about you!"

"No, I mean we've met before!" Sora shook his head. "In Timeless River. Don't you remember?" Horace, Clarabelle and Clara all sadly shook their heads.

"Sorry." Apologized Horace. "But, this world hasn't been called Timeless River for over sixty years. We don't exactly remember a whole bunch from those days."

"Though, now that you mention it, I do kinda recall someone that looks like you walking around with Donald and Goofy." Clarabelle pondered. Clara clucked in agreement. The brown-haired Keyblade Master smiled, happy that his memory was still there even after sixty years for them.

"Well, either way, it's nice to meet you all." Said Kairi, placing a comforting hand on Sora's shoulder.

"So, what's Fruitball?" Asked Riku.

"Oh it's a real fun game. Different fruits go flying everywhere and each team tries to land the fruit in the other team's goal to get points." Horace explained.

"Sounds like fun! Let's play." Exclaimed West excitedly, turning to her three companions

"Sure, I'm up for it." Said Sora, eager to try the new game. Kairi and Riku looked equally excited.

"Wonderful!" Beamed Clarabelle. "So, what are the teams going to be? Boys against girls?"

"That sounds like a good plan to me." Nodded Kairi.

"Oh, I don't know about that." Riku smirked. "With me and Sora on a team, I don't think you girls stand a chance."

"Those sound like fightin' words to me, mister!" Exclaimed West.

Sora laughed as he rushed over to his and Riku's side of the Fruitball court. "Oh, it's on now!"

~*KHIII*~

Goofy timidly peeked around the corner of a building, checking to see if anyone was there; namely Max. Content that he didn't see anyone, the dog emerged from behind the corner and wandered into the small back alley.

He hadn't even taken five steps before a familiar voice stopped him in his tracks. "Finally found you!" Goofy turned around to find an irritated Max standing behind him with his arms crossed.

"Oh, Maxie." Goofy said nervously. "I thought you'd be busy hangin' out with Roxanne and P.J.-"

"I need to talk to you." Interrupted Max walking up towards his dad with complete determination. "What's been going on lately? You've been avoiding me ever since we left Olympus Coliseum. Why?!"

Looking around himself, Goofy found no where to go; the alley was a dead end. Sighing in defeat, the older dog finally caved and decided to tell Max the truth. "Okay, you got me. Maxie, the truth is... I don't think you should travel with us anymore."

"What?!" Exclaimed Max in surprise. "Why?!"

"Well, because it's getting too dangerous." His dad explained. "I thought I was strong enough to protect you on our journey, but I was too late on Olympus. A second later and you could've been hurt real bad. I already lost your mom, I can't loose you too. My point is, Maxie is that it's getting too dangerous and I might not be able to protect you-"

"Dad! Stop it!" Interrupted Max. "I'm not a little kid anymore; you don't need to worry about me! I can take care of myself!"

"Not well enough!" Argued Goofy. "I'm not strong enough to protect you out there. So, the only way for you to stay safe is for you to stay here-"

"The worlds need our help! The whole reason I asked the King to come was to help the worlds and fight alongside you, dad! I can't just sit here and do nothing like I did before!" And without another word Max ran off the same way he came, leaving Goofy alone in the alley.

**PrismRain13: so, now we know why Goofy was acting so weird towards Max. Next chapter we may see what Pete and Mortimer are up to ;)**

**Minnie: I wonder who's going to win Rumble Racing and Fruitball...**

**PrismRain13: I dunno, I guess we'll let the readers decide. Thank you guys so much for 408 reviews, sticking around and being so supportive!**

**Minnie: we'll see you next time!**

**PrismRain13: oh, and Von Drake, Clarabelle, Horace and Clara are classic characters from various Disney shorts.**

**Guest(Oct 31); see? I updated!**

**Guest(Nov 14); you mean my profile pic? It's supposed to be a self-portrait of me with Toothless and Stitch.**


	49. The Forgotten Mirror

**Daisy: hello everyone! Welcome back, Prism!**

**PrismRain13: thanks, Daisy. Man, sorry this took so long guys but between finishing up my first semester at college, starting a new one, work, And Christmas I haven't had a lot of time. But I'm back now and I hope you like this new chapter!**

**Daisy: Prism owns nothing other than the plot and her OCs. Enjoy! Now where did that handsome Donald Duck go?**

**PrismRain13: Yes! My ship! BTW; like our new cover? Oh, and special thanks to Greymon Leader Baxt Flashpoint for writing me an adorable birthday fic about West and Riku! Go check it out!**

**_Chapter 48: The Forgotten Mirror_**

Max didn't know where he was going. All he knew was he needed time to think and get away from Goofy. How could his own dad have so little faith in him? Ever since his dad came home, he'd been so excited about journeying with him. Sure, his dad had seemed a little worried, but Max never saw any reason to worry. He knew he was strong thanks to his knight training.

When the teenager looked up, he realized he had wandered all the way to the Castle's courtyard. Fresh green topiaries shaped like some of the citizens and colourful flowers surrounded the peaceful garden. In the centre was a castle-shaped topiary that led to the Gummi Hangar. This was where he knew his dad loved to relax and take naps after a long day of his knightly duties.

But, no matter how peaceful the courtyard was, Max couldn't relax, not after the fight he and his dad just had. The teenager was so distracted, he couldn't see where his feet were stepping. Only three paces and Max soon found himself tripping over something and tumbling to the soft gass face-first, his voice releasing a clumsy yell.

"Oww." Groaned Max, pushing himself back up.

"Geeze, and here I thought I finally found a quiet, peaceful spot!" A voice complained behind him. Max turned around, finding Myde laying on the soft grass with his Sitar next to him. The dirty blonde was rubbing his arm and wincing. It was obviously Myde he had tripped over.

"What are you doing here?" Max questioned the former nobody irritably.

Myde pushed himself up to his feet and stretched his arms. "Well, until five seconds ago I was having a nice nap."

"Good for you." Grumbled Max, turning on his heel and walking towards the castle.

Raising an eyebrow at the teenage dog's behavior, Myde picked up his sitar and rushed to his side. "Hey, what's going on? What's with the attitude?"

"Nothing. I just had a fight with my dad." Said Max as they both wandered through the small door on the side of the castle.

"Really? Your dad doesn't look like the type who'd start a fight." Myde replied. "What was it about?"

"Why do you even care?"

"Well, I was rudely woken up from my nap and there's nothing else to do around here." Said Myde with a smile on his face.

_Why is this guy even with us?_ Max thought. But, after a groan of defeat he decided to tell him, "He said he didn't want me to come for the rest of the trip because it was getting too dangerous and he can't protect me. I just can't believe my own dad doesn't believe in me." Max was unable to hide the pain from his voice.

"Sounds rough. But, you know he cares about you, right?" Myde asked.

Max raised an eyebrow at Myde's statement, but nodded his head. "Yeah, I know." the teenage dog sighed. "I just wish my dad would have a little more faith in me."

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?!" A familiar voice at the end of the hall grumbled.

"Of course I do! Now shut up and let me work!" Another familiar voice exclaimed.

"Who's that?" Myde asked. "Wasn't everybody supposed to be at the festival?"

"Yeah, they are." Replied Max, confused. "Come on, let's go." Myde wasn't even given a chance to protest before the teenage dog grabbed his arm and dragged him down the hall.

Before long, they found a door at the end of the hall that was slightly ajar. Both Max and Myde peered inside to find a small dark room, empty exect for An eerie golden mirror and two figures. They both gasped at who was in there; Pete and Mortimer.

"What are these guys doing here?! I thought that cornerstone thingy protected the castle." Myde exclaimed.

"Shh!" Hissed Max, leaning in closer to listen to Mortimer and Pete's conversation.

"Come on, you've been at this for hours." Mortimer grumbled from his position against the wall as he watched Pete fiddle with the mirror.

"Just shut up! I know what's doin' so stop botherin' me!" Spat Pete. "Trust me; soon as I'm done here, that pipsqueak of a king'll be gone for good!"

Max and Myde gasped in pure shock; they were planning on getting rid of Mickey. They were going beyond their usual meaningless, unthreatening schemes. They were serious about hurting King Mickey!

"This is bad." Max whispered to his companion, stepping away from the door. "Come on, we've got to go warn the others-" But, before Max could finish his sentence, the door swung open to reveal Pete and Mortimer glaring down at them.

"Well, lookie here, Morty. Looks like dog boy and the traitor have been spyin' on us!" Pete grinned.

Mortimer released a laugh, drawing his pistol. "Well, we can't have these snoops walking around. Guess we gotta get rid of em'." The tall rat pointed his pistol directly at Myde and fired. But luckily, before the bullet could hit the former nobody, Max knocked them both out of the way.

"Quick! Go warn the others! I'll keep these guys busy!" Ordered Max, pulling out his skateboard.

"No arguments here, Maxie. Later!" Myde replied, jumping to his feet and sprinting back down the castle halls. Leaving Max to fight Pete and Mortimer alone.

At the sight of their opponent, Mortimer burst out laughing. "Go finish up whatever you were doing Petey. I can handle Goofy Junior on my own. He's so weak, we captured him so easy back at the old man's tower."

Pete rushed back to the mirror while Max readied his weapon and glared at the rat. "Don't get too cocky, Mortimer. I've gotten a lot stronger since then."

"Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it." Mortimer laughed as both dog and rat charged at each other.

~*KHIII*~

Meanwhile, back at the Fruitball court, the game had just ended with Kairi and West as the victors.

"Alright! We so rock!" West exclaimed, high-fiving Kairi. "I can't believe we won!"

"Me neither! Great game, guys." Kairi smiled as both teams moved towards each other.

Riku nodded. "It was a pretty close game. I wasn't expecting it to be that hard."

"Maybe if I hadn't tripped on that banana peel, me and Riku could have won." Sora nervously laughed, rubbing the back of his neck.

Kairi giggled and playfully punched the spiky-haired teen in the arm. "You guys up for a rematch in a bit?"

"You bet!" Riku replied. At that moment, both teams realized they had an audience; Mickey, Minnie, Lea, Roxas, Naminé and Xion. Horace, Clarabelle and Clara had left awhile ago to check on the other events.

"You all played so wonderfully!" Minnie applauded.

Mickey nodded in agreement. "Best Fruitball game I've seen in a long time!"

"Hey, Ax-Lea." Roxas turned to his friend, who was eating another Bueno Volcano ice cream. "You wanna try a game?"

"Hey! Let me finish my ice cream first, dude!" Lea replied with a mouthful of the dessert.

Xion giggled. "That's your fifth bowl!"

"Seriously, Lea. You should cut back a bit." Naminé shook her head as the entire group burst out laughing.

The group was so preoccupied, they didn't notice Goofy entering the Fruitball court with a sad look on his face. Sora was the first to see him. But one look at his sulking face and the young keyblade master could immediately tell something was wrong.

"Hey! Goofy!" Sora called out as he rushed to his friend's side. "What's wrong?" The others immediately noticed Goofy's sad expression and grew concerned for the tall dog.

"Oh, Maxie and I had a bit of a fight." Replied Goofy.

"You and Max had a fight?" Sora asked, he and the others having a hard time believing it. "About what?"

"It was about how you've been avoiding him ever since Olympus Coliseum, right?" Questioned West. "Max told me before we left Radiant Garden."

Goofy sadly nodded his head. "Yeah. See, I told Maxie that he shouldn't come with us anymore. It's too dangerous for him! He could have gotten hurt real bad on Olympus Coliseum and I couldn't protect him!"

Silence flooded the Fruitball court after Goofy finished speaking. Until finally, Sora had enough of it and pulled Goofy into a tight hug.

"I agree with you, what we're doing is dangerous." Mickey said, walking up to them. "But, you need to be able to believe in Max. All he wants is to fight beside his dad. And, it's really up to him wether or not he continues the journey or stays behind."

Sora nodded in agreement. "He's right. Max has grown up and gotten a lot stronger since we first started."

Goofy remained silent as he thought about the things Sora and Mickey told him. His mind wandered to the night before he, Donald and the king left for the Destiny Islands. Max had been so persistant, waving his skateboard around and begging to come along not wanting to be left behind. Finally, after hours of Max's begging, Goofy had agreed to let his son meet them at the Mysterious a Tower thinking he was strong enough to protect him.

Goofy was and everyone else were instantly pulled out of their thoughts by the sound of someone screaming. They all turned their heads to find Myde rushing over to them, completely out of breath.

"F-Finally f-found you guys!" Wheezed Myde.

"What's the matter with you?" Riku asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It's Pete and Mortimer!" The Melodious Nocturne exclaimed. "They're in the castle! Max is fighting them off right now!"

"What?!" Minnie gasped. "But, that's impossible! The Cornerstone should be protecting the castle!"

Just then, the entire Fruitball court became swarmed with many breeds of heartless including Bolt Towers and Shadows. Mickey didn't waste any time in summoning Star Seeker to his hand and jumping protectively in front of Minnie. The others all followed his lead and unsheathed their own weapons and started fighting the heartless.

All except for Goofy, who was paralyzed with shock. Was Max really fighting against Pete and Mortimer alone? What in the world was he thinking?! The knight was snapped out of his worried trance as a shadow leaped towards him, but was destroyed by Sora's keyblade.

"Hey! Dog-boy! You wanna help us out here?!" Lea called, throwing his fire-coated chackrams towards a bolt tower.

"We gotta go help Maxie!" Goofy exclaimed, standing beside Sora. "He's fighting all alone! He needs help!"

By that time, King Mickey had destroyed the last heartless in the Fruitball court. "I agree, Goofy. But, there could be more heartless roaming around the town! And the others don't know what's happening!"

"We'll have to split up then." Stated Riku. "Me, West, Lea, Naminé, Xion and Myde will go warn the others while you guys go to the castle and find out what's going on."

Sora nodded his head in approval. "Sounds like a plan to me."

"Okay, then let's get going!" Goofy exclaimed in a worry-filled voice. "Who knows how long Maxie can hold 'em off?!"

Right after Riku's team left, Sora was just about to take of with his, when Minne's voice stopped them in their tracks.

"Wait! I'm coming too!" The Queen said. "I need to protect this world!"

"Minnie-" Mickey started to say, but she raised her hand in front of him.

"Mickey Mouse! I am not about to run away and hide when someone I banished is threatening our kingdom!" Snapped Minnie

Knowing they didn't have time to spare, the group only took a second to decide. "Okay, but we better hurry!" Mickey said while Minnie nodded her head. Without another word, Sora, Kairi, Mickey, Minnie, Goofy and Roxas rushed out of the Fruitball court and ran all the way to the castle

~*KHIII*~

Back at the castle, while Pete was trying to finish up with the mirror, Max was loosing against Mortimer. True, the teenager had gained a little more strength, but Mortimer was still the stronger one.

With an attack from his pistol, Mortimer sent Max flying across the room and slamming into a nearby wall. Mortimer rushed in for another attack, but Max luckily jumped out of the way at the last second.

The teenage dog held his skateboard out in front of him. "This isn't over!" He exclaimed as the skateboard began to glow bright yellow. Taking a running start, Max jumped on to his board and rushed toward Mortimer, moving at lightning speed, a blur of colourful light. Mortimer never saw it coming as Max moved all around the room, hitting him in every direction.

Finally, Max stopped, moving standing right in front of his target as a colourful rocket booster appeared and started to charge underneath the skateboard. "Can you handle my moves?" Once the rocket had gathered enough power, Max charged at Mortimer, dealing a finishing blow as the rocket vanished. (1)

Mortimer collapsed to his knees and dropped his pistol, defeated. Max himself bent over in exhaustion, forgetting about Pete until the large cat was standing right in front of him.

"You little punk! I'll deal with you myself!" Pete raised a first as Max closed his eyes, waiting for the blow. But it never came. Instead, a blur of red and black jumped in between the two and attacked Pete with a powerful strike from a blurred weapon.

Max opened his eyes, gasping to find Mickey standing in front of him with his keyblade in had.

"Your Majesty?" Max asked in astonishment. A split second later, Goofy rushed up beside his son and pulled him into a tight embrace.

"Maxie! I was so worried! Are ya hurt?!" Exclaimed the knight as Sora, Kairi, Roxas and Minnie ran into the room.

"Dad! I'm fine!" Said Max, trying to wriggle out of his father's hug.

"Well, isn't this a touching moment?" Mortimer grumbled, pushing himself back up to his feet.

"What are you guys doing here?!" Demanded Sora. "And how'd you get in?!"

"Yes," Minnie glared at the two intruders. "The Cornerstone of Light should have kept you and your horrible heartless out!"

"Same way I got in ta spy on yous guys when you was fiddlin' with that there journal and data!" Pete exclaimed proudly. "Just walked in!"

Mortimer stepped forward, trying to put a charming smile on his ugly face. "See, that's the problem with your security system, doll. It only keeps out scary people like Maleficent. Me and Petey over here are from this world, so we can walk around as we please."

The rat slowly inched closer and closer to the group, that flirty grin still plastered on his mug as he gazed at Minnie. "So, how 'bout it, Minnie? Why don'tcha ditch the tiny king For a real guy like me?"

"Is he hitting on the Queen?" Kairi whispered to Sora.

"Either that or he's trying to win the 'Creep of the Year' award." Sora said while he, Roxas and Kairi snickered in amusement.

Mortimer glared up at the three who were laughing. "You makin' fun of me?!" The rat growled. That momentary distraction was all Minnie needed to summon a ball of white light to her hands and fire it at Mortimer. Sending the rat tumbling backwards beside Pete.

"I said it a thousand times and I'll say it again, Mortimer. I love Mickey and I'll never leave him!" The Queen shouted as she held Mickey's hand.

"This is exactly why you were banished, Mortimer." Said Mickey. "Because of your constant attempt to steal both Minnie and the throne! Now you two better leave before things get ugly!" Mickey snarled, pointing Star Seeker at them.

But, neither Pete or Mortimer appeared to be threatened by the King. Instead, they both smirked, remembering their plan.

"Sorry, there Kingy. But we ain't goin' nowhere! Not when we got the perfect plan to get rid of ya!" Pete laughed and stepped to the side, revealing the old mirror. "This bad boy'll do all the work for us!"

Mickey and Minnie gasped at the sight of the mirror. "You can't be serious!" Mickey exclaimed.

"Wait, what are they talking about?" Asked Roxas.

"Just that Mickey's gonna face a blast from his past!" Mortimer smirked, twirling his pistol between his fingers. Then, pointing it at the mirror, Mortimer fired a dark bullet, hitting the mirror directly in the centre.

Instantly, the glass in the mirror began to turn dark and cloudy as black ink started dripping out of it.

Then, out of nowhere, a giant arm made out of black ink burst out of the mirror. Ink splattering all over the room and hallway.

Minnie gasped as the arm reached out towards the King and Queen. Mickey was so paralyzed, he only had time to push Minnie out of the way before the hand grabbed him in a tight hold and lifted him off the floor.

"Mickey! No!" Minnie exclaimed as Mickey squirmed and struggled, trying to get out of the monster's grasp. He couldn't even get his hand free to summon his keyblade.

"Hang on, your majesty!" Sora roared, rushing up to the arm, Kingdom Key in his hand. The brunette was about to attack the inky arm and free Mickey, but before he could, another arm burst out of the mirror and grabbed him too. "Hey! Let me go!"

Pete and Mortimer started laughing. "Look at that, Pete, buddy. Now we can get rid of both of 'me at once! This is perfect!" Mortimer smirked as both inky arms started retracting back into the mirror.

Roxas snarled as he ran forward. "Oh no you don't!" The former nobody exclaimed, latching on to the slimy arm that was holding Sora. Kairi followed him and reached out her hand to help, but she was too late. her fingertips barely touched Sora's pant leg before they were pulled into the mirror. The glass reappearing and solidifying, preventing anyone else from going in.

Minnie, Kairi, Goofy and Max were all speechless as they gazed at the mirror their friends vanished through. They were helpless to stop that...thing from taking them. They were brought back to the present by the sound of Pete and Mortimer's laughter

"Well, I'd have ta say our mission here was a big success!" Pete smiled.

"You got that right!" Replied Mortimer. "This is sure to make Maleficent and that Xehanort guy appreciate us better!"

"What did you do to them?!" Demanded Kairi worriedly.

"Oh, don't worry, princess. The tiny king's just gonna meet up with a long lost friend!" Pete laughed. "Besides, you guys got the heartless to worry about!" And with more laughter erupting from both of their throats, Mortimer and Pete both vanished through a corridor of darkness.

**Daisy: oh no! What happened? Where'd they go?**

**PrismRain13: you'll find out :) hopefully it won't take me ages to update again. If anybody can guess where Roxas, Sora and Mickey've been taken then you guys are awesome!**

**Daisy: We'll see you next time! Thank you in advance for your reviews and support!**

**PrismRain13: oh, and about the cover; yes I did originally want to draw one but I just didn't have the time or patience to come up with a good composition.**

**(1): Max's Limit: _Rocket Blast_**


	50. The King's Brother

**PrismRain13: hey guys! I'm back! And here's the world I'm guessing a lot of you have been waiting for. I was really surprised to find out that so many readers guessed our trio vanished to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit's world!**

**Oswald: wow, I'm surprised so many people remember me!**

**PrismRain13: don't act so surprised, you're awesome!**

**Oswald: Yay! Prism owns nothing other than the plot and her OCs enjoy the chapter!**

**_Chapter 49: The King's Brother_**

In a word, Sora felt like crap. The young Keyblade master's entire body was aching all over, reminding him of the time he, Donald and Goofy were swallowed up by Monstro. He slowly opened his eyes, gasping at what he saw around him.

He and Roxas, still unconscious, were locked inside a small iron cage resting on a stone floor. The space around them looked like some type of ruined castle that was missing a ceiling and a small, deadly-looking laboratory in front of them with a number of machines. Around the walls, he could see detailed stained glass windows.

As Sora grasped the bars and leaned forward, he could make out someone familiar unconscious and strapped to the table in the lab with an unmoving machine above them. They were small, dressed in red with big, round black ears.

"Your majesty!" He exclaimed worriedly. "Roxas! Roxas wake up!" He hissed, shaking his former nobody's shoulder.

"Hmm...wha?" Roxas mumbled, opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings. "Sora? What's going on? Where are we?"

"Some kind of lab I guess." Replied Sora. "The last thing I remember was that black arm grabbing us and pulling us into the mirror. So, how'd we get here?"

**_Wasteland_**

"The Blot brought you here." An accented voice rang through the lab, both boys turned their heads, finding a tall man walking towards them dressed in a long, white labcoat and black gloves. He had a bald head, a beard, a moustache and large teeth. "Brought you right to me." The man laughed.

"The Blot? You mean that black monster thing?" Roxas asked just as Mickey started to stir.

"Ugh.. Sora? Roxas?" Mickey groaned, then his eyes widened at the sight of where they were and who was with them. "Oh no!"

"Ah, dear King Mickey. So wonderful you could join us." The man smirked, rubbing his hands together. "You remember me, don't you? I am the Mad Doctor. How long has it been? Fifty years?"

Immediately, Mickey began to struggle against his restraints, but they wouldn't budge.

"Now, now." Laughed the Mad Doctor, walking up to a large, metal machine beside Mickey. "Don't struggle. Just let me take your heart and no one gets hurt."

"What do you want with the King's heart?!" Demanded Roxas.

The Mad Doctor glared at the two boys, obviously irritated with the constant interruptions. "If you boys must know; once I take a heart, I'll finally be able to leave this land! Now shut up and leave me to my work!"

"No! Leave him alone!" Protested Sora.

"Doc, come on, ya don't wanna do this!" Mickey pleaded, but they went ignored as the Mad Doctor laughed insanely and began to power up his console. After pressing a few buttons and pulling a few levers, the machine above Mickey roared to life.

A number of mechanical attachments burst out of it; a mechanical eye, a chainsaw, a pair of scissors, a corkskerw and a hand holding a plunger. Settling on the plunger, the Mad Doctor commanded the machine to attack. Immediately, the plunger attached itself to Mickey's chest, moving in away that was trying to pull something out; his heart. The King struggled more than ever, trying to escape from his bonds and the heart-extraction device, resisting with all his might.

Sora snarled at the sight before him. Unable to stand by any more, he summoned Kingdom Key to his hand and pointed it to the lock on the cage. A beam of light shot out of the tip of the weapon and into the keyhole of the lock, causing the door of the cage to open, setting them free.

"Come on, We gotta help the King!" Said Sora.

Roxas smiled encouragingly, summoning Two Become One. "Right behind you!"

Mickey shivered in fear as the tip of the plunger-like mechanical arm was just about to pull his heart out. But, before it could, Sora jumped up and used his keyblade to destroy the machine. Then, he threw his weapon directly at the controlling console beside the doctor, destroying it instantly.

Roxas followed, using his own Keyblade to unlock the shackles holding the King in place. Mickey didn't waste any time in jumping off the table, between the two spiky-haired boys.

"You okay, your majesty?" Asked Roxas.

Mickey nodded, summoning Star Seeker. "Yeah, now. Thanks, fellas."

"You fools! You'll pay for this!" The Mad Doctor exclaimed, then looked up to the sky. "Shadow Blot! Come! Aid your ally!" He yelled. Instantly, a giant blob of black ink with glowing green eyes and mouth dropped down in front of the doctor. Its claw-like hands looked just like the one that dragged the three of them into this world.

"So, you're the one who brought us here!" Growled Sora as he, Mickey and Roxas crouched into their battle stances.

The Shadow Blot released a menacing roar, but after taking one look at the three Keyblades in front of him, his expression immediately turned scared and fled up into the sky. The Mad Doctor looked just as surprised as the rest of them.

"WHAT?!" He exclaimed, then he looked down ans saw the weapons his opponents were holding. His expression slowly changed to a devious smirk. "Oh, Keyblades. I see now. Well, I'll just have to dispose of you myself before you cause any damage to the Blot!"

The Mad Doctor then slammed his fist down onto a large, red button on the busted console. The ground surrounding them immediately started to shake and the floor surrounding the doctor started to move and open beneath him. The Mad Doctor fell through, but soon reemerged inside a large, dome-shaped flying machine with multiple powerful rockets beneath it and large mechanical claws.

"Let's see you try and defeat me now!" The Mad Doctor laughed madly.

"Bring it on!" Mickey exclaimed, leading Sora and Roxas into battle.

The King jumped up into the air, firing a light spell at the machine, causing it to go crashing into a nearby brick wall and the doctor inside to slam against the glass dome. This gave Sora and Roxas the chance they needed to rush in and attack with everything they had. However, it wasn't long before the Mad Doctor recovered and took back control of the machine. Using the controls, the mechanical arms came to life and slashed at both boys. Sora and Roxas managed to keep up, though and succeded in blocking most of the attacks.

With the Mad Doctor distracted, Mickey rushed behind the machine, out of sight, and unleashed a powerful blow to a weak point, causing a great deal of damage. Sora and Roxas followed his lead, breaking through the claws and striking the machine in front with their Keyblades. That proved to be the finishing blow as the Mad Doctor's machine's rockets stopped working and slammed to the floor, sending the doc himself to his knees.

"No, I will not be defeated by you!" The Mad Doctor pushed himself up with some difficulty inside his machine. "I am the MAD DOCTOR!"

"Oh, give it a rest, Doc!" A new voice echoed throughout the lab. In the next second, a small dark silhouette with long floppy ears jumped down in between the three heroes and the doctor. "Now get outta my castle!" Immediately, the Mad Doctor's expression shifted to one of worry.

The figure before them raised his hand as an object magically appeared in his grasp. From where the trio was standing, it looked like...

"A Keyblade?!" Sora, Roxas and Mickey all gasped at the same time.

The mysterious stranger pointed his keyblade directly at the Mad Doctor and shouted, "Thundaga!" Electrical sparks flew out of the tip of the weapon from the thunder spell, hitting the Mad Doctor's impact, the machine began to go haywire.

"Noo! My instruments!" The Mad Doctor released a final scream before being sent blasting off into the sky.

Sora, Mickey and Roxas's jaws dropped at the sight before them. They were so distracted, they barely even noticed a small creature appear beside them in a flash of light.

"Oh dear, that's going to be a rough landing." The creature smiled.

The trio gazed at the creature curiously. He appeared to be floating in mid-air, had green skin and was dressed in a red and white bodysuit with white gloves, large brown shoes and a red helmet with goggles. Coming out of the helmet were two small horns, one with a tiny bowler hat and a white broom moustache under his round, orange nose.

The creature only just noticed the trio looking at him, "What? Never seen a gremlin before?"

"Obviously not, Gus." The dark silhouette before them spoke. "It's been a long time, mouse."

It was then that the figure steeped into the light, revealing himself to be a a black cartoon-like rabbit. He was dressed in a short-sleeved zip-up jacket, puffy pants, large shoes and wristbands coloured blue, black, white and green. His Keyblade was decorated with rusted gears, springs, movie reels and blue and green ink.

Mickey gasped in shock. "Oswald?!"

"Well, nice of you to remember me." Huffed the rabbit, crossing his arms.

"You guys know each other?" Roxas asked.

Mickey looked up at the two boys. "Know each other? Oswald's my brother."

"WHAT?!" Sora and Roxas exclaimed at the same time.

"Why didn't you tell us you had a brother?!" Sora demanded.

Mickey nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it's kinda a sensitive subject for me."

"Yeah, sure it is." Grumbled Oswald, dismissing his Keyblade. "Especially after you stole my spot as King and allowed me to become forgotten!"

"Oswald, I never stole your spot! Dad made it really clear that I was gonna become King from the beginning!"

Oswald clenched his fists, ready to attack Mickey. But before he could, Gus flew inbetween the mouse and rabbit.

"Come on, boys. Let's not fight. Besides, I think we need to provide some explanations for our confused friends over here." Gus said, pointing towards Sora and Roxas who both had confused expressions upon their faces.

Mickey quickly moved to introduce the two boys. "Oh, Oswald, Gus, this is Sora and Roxas-"

"I know who they are." Interrupted Oswald. "I pay attention to what goes on in your life."

"So, what exactly is this place?" Roxas asked.

"You're in Wasteland. It's a place Master Yen Sid made for all of us forgotten toons." Oswald explained.

Sora cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean by being 'forgotten'?"

Oswald took a deep breath as he continued to explain. "You see, around fifty years ago, after me and Mickey completed our Keyblade training, our father announced Mickey would take his place as king. Soon after, Disney Castle began to grow overpopulated and some of the citizens started to get forgotten by the others and start to loose their hearts because of it. Yen Sid created Wasteland as a place where all us forgotten toons could live in peace and save us from turning into those heartless monsters. For a long time, I tried to make the best of it and turn this place into something nice for all the other forgotten citizens."

Oswald released a sigh as he continued. "Especially, for my sweetie, Ortensia, and our bunny children. We were doing okay until-" the rabbit chocked back a sob, as though he was thinking back to a horrible memory.

"Until what?" Asked Roxas.

"Until the Thinner Disaster." Replied Oswald sadly. "This giant bottle full of thinner rained down from the sky and destroyed almost everything it touched. The disaster unleashed the Shadow Blot, and the Mad Doctor went over to his side. I've been fighting them both ever since."

Mickey gasped as a shiver ran down his spine, staring at Oswald. For awhile, the King looked as though he was staring off into space until Sora shook his shoulder.

"Your majesty? Are you okay?" Sora asked with worry.

Mickey shook his head, snapping himself out of his trance. "Oh, yes. I'm fine, Sora."

"What are you lookin' at, mouse?!" Oswald snapped, noticing Mickey had been staring at him.

"Uhh... It's not important." Mickey replied. "So, what happened to Ortensia?"

Oswald huffed in annoyance. "Like you said - not important."

"I still don't get if things were so bad, why you guys didn't just leave and ask Disney Castle for help." Said Sora.

"Unfortunately, no one can leave here without a heart." Gus explained. "And, once a toon is forgotten they loose their heart. We don't become one of those heartless monsters because of the powerful magic Yen Sid used to create this place."

Oswald continued. "The heartless don't normally exist here, but thanks to whatever went on before you three showed up, they started to appear as minions of the Blot. Now they're harassin' us."

"So that's why the Mad Doctor wanted the King's heart." Roxas realized. "That's why the Blot grabbed Mickey."

"You got that right! I don't even want you clowns here! I wish you'd all just leave!" Grumbled Oswald, but then paused as he realized something. "Wait, you guys_ can _leave! You still have your hearts, right?"

Sora, Roxas and Mickey all looked at each other and nodded their heads.

"Great!" Oswald smiled for the first time since they met him. "Tomorrow City has the Moonliner Rocket, you guys can fly it out of Wasteland and back to Disney Castle!"

"But, Oswald." Spoke up Gus. "I just went to check on the rocket a few days ago, three crucial parts are missing."

Oswald's face fell. "Hmm..." He pondered. "Must be the Mad Doctor's doing. We'll just have to look for them. Any idea on where they could be, Gus?

"Some of the other gremlins told me they saw some rocket parts guarded by the heartless at Lonesome Manor, Toortuga and in Tomorrow City itself." The gremlin replied.

Oswald looked up at the group. "Think you guys can handle those monsters?"

Sora smiled. "You got it! We've been fighting the heartless for a long time, now."

"Great, Sora will go to Tomorrow City. Roxas, you head to Toortuga. Gus, you go with Mickey to Lonesome Manor." Ordered Oswald as he turned away to leave. "When you've got all the parts, we'll meet up at the top of Mickeyjunk Mountain."

"Wait!" Roxas called out to the rabbit. "Where are you going?!"

"I have something I gotta take care of! Don't worry, the projectors will take you where you need to go!" And without another word, Oswald ran towards the laboratory door and disappeared through it, leaving Sora, Roxas, Mickey and Gus behind.

Sora ran his fingers though his hair. "Soo...did he just say 'projectors'?"

**PrismRain13: so in case you guys were wondering, yes this world will be based off the 2010 wii game _Epic Mickey_. And if you guys want to see Oswald's Kingdom Hearts form, it's up on my DeviantArt page. **

**Oswald: Stay tuned for the next chapter!**

**Guest - Yep! You guessed right :) and, I don't know if this is the same person that ke****eps sending reviews like "Update the chapter", "Update the next chapters fist thing tomorrow" and "UPDATE NOW", I want you to know that I update this story as I'm able. It's impossible for me to update upon your demand because the chapter isn't even done yet when you ask around my busy schedule. I'm happy that you like my story and are anxiously waiting for updates but I'm not able to update whenever you ask me to.**


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